[Plasma vitamin A and E correlate inversely with coronary mortality]

All essential plasma antioxidants were measured in representative samples of apparently healthy males from 12 European study populations the coronary mortality of which differed by the factor 4. Lipid-standardized vitamins A and E showed a strong inverse correlation to the age-specific coronary mortality (r2 = 0.33 and r2 = 0.49, resp.; combined r2 = 0.53) and thus complemented substantially the direct correlation of coronary mortality with total cholesterol (r2 = 0.51). Multiple regression analysis with these three variables predicted the actual mortality almost completely (r2 = 0.94). In conclusion, a fair plasma status of vitamins A and E could be a quantitatively important, hitherto underrated protective factor of coronary heart disease. These antioxidant vitamins presumably protect lipoproteins against peroxidation and atherogenic modification, respectively, but might still have additional antiarteriosclerotic effects in the arterial wall.