Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol 12, Issue 6 631-637, Copyright © 1993 by American College of Nutrition

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Dietary supplementation with vitamins C and E inhibits in vitro oxidation of lipoproteins

V. A. Rifici and A. K. Khachadurian
Department of Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick.

The oxidative modification of lipoproteins has been implicated in atherogenesis, suggesting a protective role of circulating antioxidants. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, 1 g/day) and vitamin E (dl alpha-tocopheryl acetate, 800 IU/day) were administered to healthy female and male volunteers. Lipoproteins with density < 1.063 g/mL were isolated from serum before and after vitamin supplementation and incubated with copper (Cu) or mononuclear cells (MC) plus Cu. Administration of vitamins C and E together to 4 subjects for 10 days resulted in a 57% (range 40-72%) decrease in Cu-catalyzed production of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) under the following conditions of assay: incubation times of 0-8 hours, Cu concentrations of 0-10 microM lipoprotein protein concentrations of 0.1-0.5 mg/mL. Decreases in other parameters of lipoprotein oxidation, i.e,, electrophoretic mobility, production of conjugated dienes and modification of amino groups, were also observed. Vitamin E administration alone produced a 52% inhibition and vitamin C alone a 15% inhibition of TBARS formation. Vitamins C and E supplementation resulted in a 78% decrease in the susceptibility of lipoproteins to MC-mediated oxidation. There was a strong inverse correlation (r = -0.64, p < 0.0007) between vitamin E levels in the lipoproteins and TBARS production in samples from 12 subjects administered vitamins C and E. In 3 individuals vitamin E levels remained low and in 2 of these subjects there was no effect of vitamins C and E administration on TBARS production. These results suggest a protective role of antioxidant vitamins and significant individual variability in response.

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