Long Term Effects of Oral Vitamin E Supplement in Type II Diabetic Patients

Abstract

This triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted to determine the effect of the vitamin E on fasting blood sugar (FBS), serum insulin, and glycated hemoglobin (GHb) in type 11 diabetic patients (NIDDM). A total of 100 patients, with no complications, aged 20-60 years old were chosen from those consulting the Isfahan Social Security Service Diabetes Clinic and divided randomly into two treated and placebo groups, and matched for age, sex, level of education, and occupation. The treated and placebo groups were given vitamin E tablets (200 IU/day) and placebo respectively. Serum vitamin E, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), FBS, insulin, and GHb were measured at the beginning and at the end of the study (a period of 27 weeks); FBS, GHb and insulin levels were also determined several times during the period. Blood lipids and FBS were measured using the ELAN 2000 autoanalyzer at the Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center, while for measuring insulin the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used; GHb was determined calorimetrically (thiobarbituric acid), and for vitamin E measurements the Hansen and Warwick method was used, by which the vitamin E was determined fluorometrically. The findings of this study show no effect of vitamin E supplementation in the patients: GHb did not change appreciably, FBS was reduced nonsignificantly (-4.3% in the treated group vs. -14.0% in the placebo group, p < 0.05). In the case of insulin, no increase was seen; instead, a decrease was observed (slightly more than 17% in the two groups, p = 0.15). No changes were observed in the levels of blood lipids. It was concluded that a daily vitamin E supplement of 200 IU for a period of 27 weeks does not affect insulin, GHb, or FBS in type II diabetic patients. However, since this antioxidant vitamin is beneficial in other ways in these patients, it would seem justified to recommend its use. Certainly, more extensive research is necessary to draw definite conclusions.

Effect of Palm Tocotrienols versus Alpha-Tocopherol on Lymphocyte's Proliferation in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

“…We also demonstrated that the blood glucose is not considerably changed in test groups with vitamin E supplementation, this effect was well established by other works (Boshtam et al, 2005, Sena et al, 2008. But, the correlation between blood glucose level and the proliferation index of lymohocytes in response to both stimuli indicates that the capacity of diabetic lymphocytes to proliferate against bacterial mitogens reduced gradually.…”

Effects of antioxidant supplementation on insulin sensitivity, endothelial adhesion molecules, and oxidative stress in normal-weight and overweight young adults

“…Available experimental evidence in diabetic animals and humans showed that short-term supplementation with vitamins C and/or E decreased insulin levels(15, 26) and reduced CAM concentrations and oxidative stress. (27) , (28) To our knowledge, it is unknown whether the combination vitamins E, C and β-carotene can attenuate pre-disease processes of insulin insensitivity, elevated endothelial adhesion molecule levels and oxidative stress levels in a younger, overweight population who is at risk for disease.…”

Gamma-tocopherol supplementation ameliorated hyper-inflammatory response during the early cutaneous wound healing in alloxan-induced diabetic mice

“…43,44 Another major target of ROS is the inflammatorymediated transcription factor called NFkB. [45][46][47] During the inflammatory stage, wounded tissue secretes growth factors and cytokines for initiation of healing process. Neutrophils phagocytize cell debris and bacteria and gradually replace monocytes with macrophages.…”