ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Giornale Italiano di Chirurgia Vascolare 2003 June;10(2):89-95

Copyright © 2004 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English, Italian

Role of vitamin A and E in atherosclerosis. Preliminary study in subjects with carotid pathology

Felici C. ¹, Terzuoli L. ¹, Porcelli B. ¹, Galli A. ¹, Giubbolini M. ², Setacci C. ²

¹ Istituto di Biochimica e di Enzimologia Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena 2 Dipartimento di Chirurgia Vascolare Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena

Background. This ­study ­assayed the plas­ma con­cen­tra­tion of vita­mins A and E, sole­ly in the prov­ince of Siena, in a ­group of sub­jects diag­nosed ­with carot­id ­plaque; ­this con­cen­tra­tion was ­then com­pared ­with a con­trol ­group to eval­u­ate the ­trend and ­role of ­these metab­olites in ath­ero­scler­o­sis.
Methods. High pres­sure liq­uid chrom­a­tog­ra­phy was ­used to ­assay the plas­ma con­cen­tra­tion of vita­mins A and E in 39 sub­jects ­with carot­id pathol­o­gy and 84 con­trol sub­jects.
Results. The plas­ma con­cen­tra­tion of the two vita­mins in the con­trol ­group was with­in the nor­mal ­range, ­even if ­toward the low­er end, and vita­min A lev­els ­were high­er in ­males com­pared to ­females. Vitamin A lev­els ­were low­er in ­patients ­with carot­id pathol­o­gy ­than in con­trols, but sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­enc­es ­were ­only ­found in ­males. On the oth­er ­hand, no sig­nif­i­cant chang­es ­were ­observed in vita­min E lev­els ­between the sex­es in ­patients ­with carot­id pathol­o­gy and the ­results ­were nor­mal.
Conclusions. These ­data ­appear to con­firm the find­ings of ear­li­er stud­ies report­ed in the lit­er­a­ture ­that hypo­the­sise a pos­sible ­role for the two vita­mins in the devel­op­ment and pre­ven­tion of ath­ero­scler­o­sis. Further ­research, ­above all in larg­er ­groups, ­might ­lead to inter­est­ing and ­more spe­cif­ic con­clu­sions regard­ing ­both ­healthy sub­jects and ­those ­with vas­cu­lar dis­eas­es in the ­local pop­u­la­tion.