Higher vitamin C levels associated with improved vascular function in type 1 diabetes

In an article published online on June 24, 2009 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Scandinavian researchers report that young type 1 diabetic patients with higher vitamin C levels have better vascular function compared to those with lower levels of the vitamin. Vascular function and structure changes can occur early in type 1 diabetes, and are associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular mortality later in life.




Petru Liuba and Michael Odermarsky of Lund University Hospital in Sweden, along with Jens Lykkesfeldt of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, recruited 33 male and 26 female diabetic patients between the ages of 10 and 22 for the current study. Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT, which measures atherosclerosis), assessments of cutaneous microvascular function, cardiac depolarization and repolarization (evaluated via electrocardiogram as QT interval corrected for heart rate, which, when prolonged, is a predictor of adverse cardiovascular prognosis), lipids, and plasma C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, vitamin C and oxidized vitamin C (dehydroascorbic acid) were assessed. Continue Reading