Effect of supplementary antioxidant vitamin intake on carotid arterial wall intima-media thickness in a controlled clinical trial of cholesterol lowering

• Published in: Circulation (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 94; no. 10; pp. 2369 - 2372
• Main Authors: AZEN, S. P, QIAN, D, MACK, W. J, SEVANIAN, A, SELZER, R. H, LIU, C.-R, LIU, C.-H, HODIS, H. N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 15.11.1996; American Heart Association, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Antioxidants - therapeutic use; Arteriosclerosis - blood; Arteriosclerosis - diagnostic imaging; Arteriosclerosis - drug therapy; Ascorbic Acid - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; Carotid Arteries - diagnostic imaging; Carotid Arteries - drug effects; Cholesterol - blood; Disease Progression; General and cellular metabolism. Vitamins; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Tunica Intima - diagnostic imaging; Tunica Intima - drug effects; Tunica Media - diagnostic imaging; Tunica Media - drug effects; Ultrasonography; Vitamin E - therapeutic use; Sonography; Human; Ascorbic acid; Media; Cardiovascular disease; Exploration; α-Tocopherol; Antioxidant; Vascular disease; Thickness; Chemotherapy; Treatment; Carotid; Atherosclerosis; Echography; Intima
• ISSN: 0009-7322; 1524-4539
• DOI: 10.1161/01.cir.94.10.2369

There is accumulating experimental, epidemiological, and clinical evidence of an association between anti-oxidant vitamin intake and reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Using data from the Cholesterol Lowering Atherosclerosis Study (CLAS), we explored the association of self-selected supplementary antioxidant vitamin intake on the rate of progression of early preintrusive atherosclerosis. CLAS was an arterial imaging trial in which nonsmoking 40- to 59-year-old men with previous coronary artery bypass graft surgery were randomized to colestipol/niacin plus diet or placebo plus diet. The rate of progression of early preintrusive atherosclerosis was determined in 146 subjects using high-resolution B-mode ultrasound quantification of the distal common carotid artery far wall intima-media thickness (IMT). From the nutritional supplement database, 22 subjects had an on-trial average supplementary vitamin E intake of > or = 100 IU per day (high users) and 29 subjects had an average on-trial supplementary vitamin C intake of > or = 250 mg per day (high users). Within the placebo group, less carotid IMT progression was found for high supplementary vitamin E users when compared with low vitamin E users (0.008 versus 0.023 mm/y, P = .03). No effect of vitamin E within the drug group was found. No effect of vitamin C within the drug or placebo group was found. Supplementary vitamin E intake appears to be effective in reducing the progression of atherosclerosis in subjects not treated with lipid-lowering drugs while the process is still confined to the arterial wall (early preintrusive atherosclerosis).