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FOOD
AND SUPPLEMENTS
Antioxidant
Supplements
Batterham
and colleagues recruited 66 HIV-positive people for a prospective, dose
comparison study of antioxidants. Participants ingested either a recommended
antioxidant regimen (5450 IU vitamin A as carotene, 250 mg vitamin C, 100
IU vitamin E, 100 µg selenium, 50 mg coenzyme Q10) or a high-dose
antioxidant regimen (21800 IU vitamin A as carotene, 1000 mg vitamin C,
400 IU vitamin E, 200 µg selenium, 200 mg coenzyme Q10) for 12 weeks.
Although antioxidant supplementation significantly improved some measures
of oxidative defense in the 48 participants who completed the study, there
was no benefit in using a high-dose supplement.
Source:
Batterham M, Gold J, Naidoo D, Lux O, et al. A preliminary open label dose
comparison using an antioxidant regimen to determine the effect on viral
load and oxidative stress in men with HIV/AIDS. Eur
J Clin Nutr 2001;55(2):107-114.
In
other news, a group of researchers now question the use of antioxidant
vitamins in those patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and low high-density
lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). Investigators recently found that antioxidant
supplements may block the response of HDL to simvastatin and niacin therapy
in these patients. The three-year, double-blind trial enrolled 160 patients
with CAD, low HDL cholesterol levels, and normal low-density lipoprotein
(LDL) cholesterol levels. Participants resided in either Seattle, Oklahoma
City, or British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Mean levels of LDL and HDL
cholesterol were substantially altered in the simvastatin/niacin group
and the combination provided marked clinical and angiographically measurable
benefits.
Sources:
1. Cheung MC, Zhao XQ, Chait A, Albers JJ, Brown BG. Antioxidant Supplements
Block the Response of HDL to Simvastatin-Niacin Therapy in Patients With
Coronary Artery Disease and Low HDL. Arteriosclerosis,
Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology 2001;21:1320.
2.
Brown BG, Zhao XQ, Chait A, Fisher LD, et al. Simvastatin and Niacin, Antioxidant
Vitamins, or the Combination for the Prevention of Coronary Disease. N
Eng J Med 2001;345(22):1583-1592.
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