Technion Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Molecules. 2010 Nov 9;15(11):8098-110. doi: 10.3390/molecules15118098.
Atherosclerosis remains one of the leading causes of death in Western populations. Subsequent to the discovery that oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis, vitamins C and E, along with other antioxidants, were studied as potential therapies for the disease. However, while in vitro and in vivo studies showed promising antiatherogenic effects for vitamins C and E, clinical trials in which patients were given high doses of vitamin E or C showed no benefit and even possible harm. This review will attempt to summarize the known mechanistic data regarding the biochemical effects of vitamins C and E and their relevance to atherosclerosis, and offer an explanation for the failure of clinical trials to show that supplementation with these vitamins provides any benefit when given indiscriminately. We provide one example of how pharmacogenomics may be used to identify a sub-population which may indeed benefit from antioxidant supplementation.
动脉粥样硬化仍然是西方人群的主要死亡原因之一。继发现氧化应激在动脉粥样硬化的发生和发展中起关键作用之后,维生素 C 和维生素 E 以及其他抗氧化剂被研究为该疾病的潜在治疗方法。然而,尽管体外和体内研究显示维生素 C 和 E 具有有前景的抗动脉粥样硬化作用,但给予患者大剂量维生素 E 或维生素 C 的临床试验并未显示出益处,甚至可能有害。本综述将尝试总结关于维生素 C 和维生素 E 的生化作用及其与动脉粥样硬化的相关性的已知机制数据,并解释为什么临床试验表明补充这些维生素在不加选择地给予时没有任何益处。我们提供了一个例子,说明如何使用药物基因组学来识别可能确实受益于抗氧化剂补充的亚人群。