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Heart Disease
Vitamin C Could Help Reduce C-Reactive Protein Levels
Date: 28/03/06
According to recent research, a common vitamin may help reduce the inflammation that triggers a rise in C-reactive Protein, which can play a role in creating blood clots that lead to strokes and heart attacks.
Vitamin C may have anti-inflammatory actions
A study that appears in the March 2006 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) concludes that vitamin C may have anti-inflammatory effects.
Researchers at the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London recruited more than 3,250 men over the age of 60. None of the subjects had diabetes or had suffered a heart attack or stroke. Food frequency questionnaires were used to determine fruit and vegetable intake. Blood samples were also taken to measure vitamin C and C-reactive Protein, as well as tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), a marker of endothelial dysfunction (an abnormal function of cells that line the inner surface of blood vessels).
Researchers found high fruit consumption to be linked with a 25 percent reduced risk of inflammation, while inflammation risk was nearly cut in half among those who had high blood levels of vitamin C. Intake of the vitamin was also significantly associated with lower concentrations of t-PA.
An editorial that appears in the same issue of AJCN notes that the study focused on elderly white males, so the findings cannot be translated to men aged 60 years or younger, women, or people of other races. But US HSI Panellist Allan Spreen, M.D., disagrees.
When I asked Dr. Spreen to comment on the study, he wrote: I can assure them (for what it's worth) that the results CAN be translated to women, other races and age groups the participants just have to be human. Vitamin C in high doses has been known for decades to kill ANY virus or bacteria if given in adequate dose. Though C-reactive protein was not known back then, and interest specifically in inflammation may not have been the primary thrust of such work, inflammation would decrease as infectious insult was alleviated.
According to the British Heart Foundation, it is not known what causes the inflammation but infection - possibly caused by bacteria or a virus - might contribute to or even start the process.
Before and after
The accompanying editorial also points out that the study was, not a randomised placebo-based clinical trial, and thus the authors conclusion is not firm and cannot be used for policy guidelines.
Fair enough. But Id like to call their attention to a placebo-based clinical trial that I told you about in the e-alert Protecting your heart health (5/5/04). In that study, 160 subjects (all were smokers or regularly exposed to second-hand smoke) were divided into three groups; one group received 515mg of vitamin C each day, one group received an antioxidant mix combining vitamin C, alpha-lipoic acid, and vitamin E, and a third group received a placebo.
Researchers took blood samples from each subject before the two-month supplementation period, and again when the test period was finished. Analysis showed that C-reactive Protein levels rose slightly for those in the placebo group. Subjects who took the antioxidant mix experienced a small decrease in C-reactive Protein (just under 5 percent). But in the vitamin C group, C-reactive Protein dropped an average of nearly 25 percent.
More investigations are needed to confirm an association between vitamin C intake and C-reactive Protein management, but it appears that research is heading in the right direction.
To read more about C-reactive Protein, click here
Back to topVitamin C may have anti-inflammatory actions
A study that appears in the March 2006 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) concludes that vitamin C may have anti-inflammatory effects.
Researchers at the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London recruited more than 3,250 men over the age of 60. None of the subjects had diabetes or had suffered a heart attack or stroke. Food frequency questionnaires were used to determine fruit and vegetable intake. Blood samples were also taken to measure vitamin C and C-reactive Protein, as well as tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), a marker of endothelial dysfunction (an abnormal function of cells that line the inner surface of blood vessels).
Researchers found high fruit consumption to be linked with a 25 percent reduced risk of inflammation, while inflammation risk was nearly cut in half among those who had high blood levels of vitamin C. Intake of the vitamin was also significantly associated with lower concentrations of t-PA.
An editorial that appears in the same issue of AJCN notes that the study focused on elderly white males, so the findings cannot be translated to men aged 60 years or younger, women, or people of other races. But US HSI Panellist Allan Spreen, M.D., disagrees.
When I asked Dr. Spreen to comment on the study, he wrote: I can assure them (for what it's worth) that the results CAN be translated to women, other races and age groups the participants just have to be human. Vitamin C in high doses has been known for decades to kill ANY virus or bacteria if given in adequate dose. Though C-reactive protein was not known back then, and interest specifically in inflammation may not have been the primary thrust of such work, inflammation would decrease as infectious insult was alleviated.
According to the British Heart Foundation, it is not known what causes the inflammation but infection - possibly caused by bacteria or a virus - might contribute to or even start the process.
Before and after
The accompanying editorial also points out that the study was, not a randomised placebo-based clinical trial, and thus the authors conclusion is not firm and cannot be used for policy guidelines.
Fair enough. But Id like to call their attention to a placebo-based clinical trial that I told you about in the e-alert Protecting your heart health (5/5/04). In that study, 160 subjects (all were smokers or regularly exposed to second-hand smoke) were divided into three groups; one group received 515mg of vitamin C each day, one group received an antioxidant mix combining vitamin C, alpha-lipoic acid, and vitamin E, and a third group received a placebo.
Researchers took blood samples from each subject before the two-month supplementation period, and again when the test period was finished. Analysis showed that C-reactive Protein levels rose slightly for those in the placebo group. Subjects who took the antioxidant mix experienced a small decrease in C-reactive Protein (just under 5 percent). But in the vitamin C group, C-reactive Protein dropped an average of nearly 25 percent.
More investigations are needed to confirm an association between vitamin C intake and C-reactive Protein management, but it appears that research is heading in the right direction.
To read more about C-reactive Protein, click here
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