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Although vitamin E has been known as an essential nutrient for reproduction since 1922, we are far from understanding the mechanisms of its physiological functions. Vitamin E is the term for a group of tocopherols and tocotrienols, of which α‐tocopherol has the highest biological activity. Due to the potent antioxidant properties of tocopherols, the impact of α‐tocopherol in the prevention of chronic diseases believed to be associated with oxidative stress has often been studied, and beneficial effects have been demonstrated. Recent observations that the α‐tocopherol transfer protein in the liver specifically sorts out RRR‐α‐tocopherol from all incoming tocopherols for incorporation into plasma lipoproteins, and that α‐tocopherol has signaling functions in vascular smooth muscle cells that cannot be exerted by other forms of tocopherol with similar antioxidative properties, have raised interest in the roles of vitamin E …