© 2002 by European Society of Cardiology
Copyright © 2002, European Society of Cardiology
Effects of a ‘healthy’ diet and of acute and long-term vitamin C on vascular function in healthy older subjects
aDepartment of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, St. George’s Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, Tooting, London SW17 0RE, UK
bCentre for Clinical Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK
1 Current address: Maternal and Fetal Research Unit, Dept. of Women’s Health, St. Thomas’ Hospital, Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7EH, UK.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-208-725-5641; fax: +44-208-725-5641 d.singer{at}sghms.ac.uk
Objective: Aging is associated with endothelial dysfunction. We studied the acute and longer-term effects of vitamin C compared to a ‘Mediterranean-type’ diet on endothelial function in healthy older subjects. Methods: Bilateral venous occlusion plethysmography was used to measure forearm blood flow in subjects aged 57–80 years. Responses to cumulative intra-arterial doses of the endothelium-dependent dilator bradykinin (BK; n=56; 20, 40, 80 pmol/min) and the nitric oxide donor glyceryl trinitrate (GTN; n=54; 4, 8, 16 nmol/min), were determined alone and in the presence of vitamin C (25 mg/min). We then randomised 54 subjects to a ‘healthy’ diet (n=18), vitamin C (1 g/day; n=18) or placebo for 6 weeks and reassessed endothelial and smooth muscle function. Results: Acute intra-arterial vitamin C did not alter dilatation to BK or GTN. Similar increases in plasma vitamin C occurred on oral vitamin C (83±4 to135±8 µmol/l) and ‘healthy’ diet (84±5 to135±27 µmol/l; P<0.01 for both), with no change seen on placebo. Treatment with a ‘healthy’ diet but not oral vitamin C improved endothelium-dependent (P=0.043) and endothelium-independent dilatation (P=0.011). Conclusions: A ‘Mediterranean-type’ diet rich in vitamin C improves vascular function. Neither acute intra-arterial nor sustained administration of oral vitamin C improves vascular function in healthy older subjects.
KEYWORDS Aging; Endothelial function; Nitric oxide
The work was performed in the Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, St. George’s Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
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