[Antioxidant vitamins in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. First part: epidemiologic studies]

The hypothesis of the atherogenic role of oxidized. LDL lipoproteins and the observation of the longevity of individuals on a "mediterranean diet" led to the concept that antioxidant vitamins may exert cardiovascular protective effects. In this first article, we summarize the results of the main epidemiological studies which analyzed the influence of dietary intakes (or resulting plasma concentrations) in vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), vitamin A (beta-carotene) or vitamin C (ascorbic acid). The three types of studies available in the literature provided quite heterogeneous results, in favour of a protective role of antioxidant vitamins as far as cross-cultural and most prospective observational studies were concerned, but rather negative when considering case-control studies. However, in general, epidemiological studies tended to support, a beneficial role of these antioxidant vitamins to prevent cardiovascular diseases, at least in some subgroups of individuals.