Researcher Dr. Andrew Levy of the Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, Israel, found diabetics with the gene version who took 400 International Units of vitamin E daily had more than 50 percent fewer heart attacks, strokes and related deaths than those with the gene who took a placebo.

Forty percent of the people with diabetes carry the Hp 2-2 gene, Levy said.

Studies have showed vitamin E has no heart protective effects and there may be harm from mega doses of vitamin E, but Levy and colleagues suspected there might be a group of patients who could benefit from vitamin E.

A genetic test for Hp 2-2 is commercially available, said Levy, who is also a consultant for Synvista Therapeutics, which owns a patent on the use of Hp testing to predict diabetic complications.

The findings were presented at the American Heart Meetings in Orlando, Fla., and are published in the online edition of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.