Vitamin C Suppresses Endothelial Cell Apoptosis in CHF

Reuters Medical News

A team in Frankfurt, Germany has performed a recent study that reports a link between vitamin C and protection of the vascular wall for patients suffering from congestive heart failure. The vitamin C apparently blocked the programmed cell death of cultured endothelial cells in earlier experiments performed by the team. Method In the study of 34 patients, the research team randomly assigned patients to vitamin C or a sodium chloride placebo. The initial doses were 2.5 grams of intravenous vitamin C or sodium chloride 0.9%; three days of subsequent treatment consisted of oral doses of either 2 grams of vitamin C or placebo. Results In the patients receiving vitamin C, the levels of cell-destroying microparticles were reduced to 32% of baseline; the reduction in the placebo patients was considered insignificant (to 87%). The researchers used serum from the study's subjects to treat cultured endothelial cells, and found an even greater reduction of apoptosis. While the vitamin C did not appear to affect levels of circulating immunoregulatory substances such as TNF-alpha, Dr. Dimmeler's study points to the possibility of "antioxidant treatment as a novel strategy to delay the progression of heart failure." Return to Top