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Vitamin C and Heart Health: A Review Based on Findings from Epidemiologic Studies

Vitamin C is a powerful dietary antioxidant that has received considerable attention in the literature related to its possible role in heart health. Although classical vitamin C deficiency, marked by scurvy, is rare in most parts of the world, some research has shown variable heart disease risks dep...

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Autores principales: Moser, Melissa A., Chun, Ock K.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5000725/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27529239
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms17081328
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author Moser, Melissa A.
Chun, Ock K.
author_facet Moser, Melissa A.
Chun, Ock K.
author_sort Moser, Melissa A.
collection PubMed
description Vitamin C is a powerful dietary antioxidant that has received considerable attention in the literature related to its possible role in heart health. Although classical vitamin C deficiency, marked by scurvy, is rare in most parts of the world, some research has shown variable heart disease risks depending on plasma vitamin C concentration, even within the normal range. Furthermore, other studies have suggested possible heart-related benefits to vitamin C taken in doses beyond the minimal amounts required to prevent classically defined deficiency. The objective of this review is to systematically review the findings of existing epidemiologic research on vitamin C and its potential role in cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is well established that vitamin C inhibits oxidation of LDL-protein, thereby reducing atherosclerosis, but the cardiovascular outcomes related to this action and other actions of vitamin C are not fully understood. Randomized controlled trials as well as observational cohort studies have investigated this topic with varying results. Vitamin C has been linked in some work to improvements in lipid profiles, arterial stiffness, and endothelial function. However, other studies have failed to confirm these results, and observational cohort studies are varied in their findings on the vitamin’s effect on CVD risk and mortality. Overall, current research suggests that vitamin C deficiency is associated with a higher risk of mortality from CVD and that vitamin C may slightly improve endothelial function and lipid profiles in some groups, especially those with low plasma vitamin C levels. However, the current literature provides little support for the widespread use of vitamin C supplementation to reduce CVD risk or mortality.
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spelling pubmed-50007252016-09-01 Vitamin C and Heart Health: A Review Based on Findings from Epidemiologic Studies Moser, Melissa A. Chun, Ock K. Int J Mol Sci Review Vitamin C is a powerful dietary antioxidant that has received considerable attention in the literature related to its possible role in heart health. Although classical vitamin C deficiency, marked by scurvy, is rare in most parts of the world, some research has shown variable heart disease risks depending on plasma vitamin C concentration, even within the normal range. Furthermore, other studies have suggested possible heart-related benefits to vitamin C taken in doses beyond the minimal amounts required to prevent classically defined deficiency. The objective of this review is to systematically review the findings of existing epidemiologic research on vitamin C and its potential role in cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is well established that vitamin C inhibits oxidation of LDL-protein, thereby reducing atherosclerosis, but the cardiovascular outcomes related to this action and other actions of vitamin C are not fully understood. Randomized controlled trials as well as observational cohort studies have investigated this topic with varying results. Vitamin C has been linked in some work to improvements in lipid profiles, arterial stiffness, and endothelial function. However, other studies have failed to confirm these results, and observational cohort studies are varied in their findings on the vitamin’s effect on CVD risk and mortality. Overall, current research suggests that vitamin C deficiency is associated with a higher risk of mortality from CVD and that vitamin C may slightly improve endothelial function and lipid profiles in some groups, especially those with low plasma vitamin C levels. However, the current literature provides little support for the widespread use of vitamin C supplementation to reduce CVD risk or mortality. MDPI 2016-08-12 /pmc/articles/PMC5000725/ /pubmed/27529239 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms17081328 Text en © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Moser, Melissa A.
Chun, Ock K.
Vitamin C and Heart Health: A Review Based on Findings from Epidemiologic Studies
title Vitamin C and Heart Health: A Review Based on Findings from Epidemiologic Studies
title_full Vitamin C and Heart Health: A Review Based on Findings from Epidemiologic Studies
title_fullStr Vitamin C and Heart Health: A Review Based on Findings from Epidemiologic Studies
title_full_unstemmed Vitamin C and Heart Health: A Review Based on Findings from Epidemiologic Studies
title_short Vitamin C and Heart Health: A Review Based on Findings from Epidemiologic Studies
title_sort vitamin c and heart health: a review based on findings from epidemiologic studies
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5000725/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27529239
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms17081328
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