HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Traber, M. G Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Traber, M. G Agricola Articles by Traber, M. G

Heart disease and single-vitamin supplementation^1,2,3,4

¹ From the Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

ABSTRACT

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States and has long been recognized to be multifactorial. A growing body of evidence suggests that not only free radical–mediated reactions but also inflammatory responses play major roles in atherogenesis. Vitamin E has both antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties and is the most widely studied vitamin in clinical trials and thus will be the primary example used in this review. Clinical trials of vitamin E efficacy, in hindsight, have been overly optimistic in their expectation that a vitamin could reverse poor dietary habits and a sedentary lifestyle as well as provide benefit beyond that of pharmaceutical agents in treating heart disease. However, it is also apparent that most Americans do not consume dietary amounts adequate to meet established vitamin E requirements. In response to oxidative stressors, vitamin E can decrease biomarkers of lipid peroxidation, is itself killed, and requires optimal vitamin C status to function most effectively. Thus, adequate vitamin E intakes are clearly needed, but what is adequate for what function has yet to be defined. It is noteworthy that in most trials, biomarkers were not used nor were oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation markers used or plasma vitamin E concentrations measured.

Key Words: Vitamin E • folic acid • biomarkers • oxidative stress • carboxyethyl hydroxy chromans

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Devaraj, R. Tang, B. Adams-Huet, A. Harris, T. Seenivasan, J. A de Lemos, and I. Jialal Effect of high-dose {alpha}-tocopherol supplementation on biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with coronary artery disease Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, November 1, 2007; 86(5): 1392 - 1398. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]