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Long-term vitamin E supplementation does not affect HF risk
Chae CU. Circ Heart Fail.2012;5:176-182.
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Vitamin E supplementation does not appear to increase or decrease the overall risk for HF among women, new data suggest.
Researchers analyzed more than 39,000 initially healthy women who were enrolled in the Women’s Health Study. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 100 mg of aspirin every other day; 600 IU of vitamin E every other day; aspirin plus vitamin E; or placebo. Follow-up questionnaires were sent every 6 months for the first year and annually thereafter, inquiring about compliance with study medications, adverse events, risk factors and occurrence of endpoints.
Two hundred and twenty incident HF events occurred during a median follow-up of 10.2 years, with 106 events in women assigned to vitamin E and 114 in women assigned to placebo. Vitamin E had no significant effect on HF risk (HR=0.93; 95% CI, 0.71-1.21), according to proportional hazards models adjusting for age, aspirin and beta carotene treatment.
In a prespecified subgroup analysis, researchers found an inverse relationship with vitamin E and HF in patients who had normal left ventricular ejection fraction (≥50%; HR=0.59; 95% CI, 0.38-0.92). However, there was no significant effect of vitamin E on risk for developing systolic HF in this group (HR=1.26; 95% CI, 0.84-1.89). This subfinding is only an observation and topic for future research, according to Claudia U. Chae, MD, MPH, lead researcher in the cardiology division at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“If the increased association between vitamin E and diastolic HF is confirmed in other prospective studies, then future randomized trials of antioxidant therapy in patient populations at high risk for diastolic HF may be warranted. However, at the present time, the cumulative evidence to date does not support the use of vitamin E supplementation to reduce the risk of CVD,” the researchers concluded.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.