Plasma Antioxidant Vitamins C and E in Relation to Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors

Oxidative free radicals and lipid peroxidation are commonly believed to play a major role in atherogenesis, which is the pathological basis for coronary heart disease. Health hazards by these oxygen species can to some extent be prevented by the body's multi-level defence system against free radicals, which comprises enzyme (e.g. superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase), endogenous nonessential antioxidants (e.g. glutathione and uric acid) and last but not least antioxidant vitamins. Because the dietary supply of the principal essential antioxidants i.e. Beta-carotene and the vitamin A, C and E can vary considerably, the body's defence potential may in part be inversely related to the status of antioxidant vitamins. Chronic marginal deficiency of vitamin C or E causes arteriosclerosis like lesions in rodents, piglets and primates. It has been demonstrated that vitamin C participates in lipid metabolism.