Friday, August 05, 2011

Vitamin C, E supplements for type 2 diabetes patients

An imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and antioxidant scavenging has been implicated in type 2 diabetes. ROS are a byproduct in type 2 diabetes, generated during protein glycation and as a consequence of advanced glycation end-products-receptor binding; they impair insulin signalling pathways and induce cytotoxicity in pancreatic beta cells. Neutralization of oxidants by increased antioxidant availability may mitigate these effects.

A study in the August issue of British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease explored the effects of dietary supplementation with antioxidant vitamins C or E on plasma glucose and insulin concentrations, as an indicator of the capacity for antioxidant to interfere with disease process and on glycated haemoglobin A1C as a measure of antioxidant effects on posttranslational protein modification implicated in disease complications.

The researchers discovered that HbA1C levels were significantly reduced by antioxidant supplementation, suggesting that antioxidants may have benefit in protecting against the complications of type 2 diabetes.

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