Vitamin C may help lower heart risk

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Vitamin C supplements may lower concentrations of C-reactive protein, a biomarker of inflammation, for those with elevated levels, U.S. researchers said.

However, the study by the University of California, Berkeley, found no benefit from daily doses of vitamin E.

Lead author Gladys Block showed that for healthy, non-smoking adults with an elevated level of C-reactive protein, a daily dose of vitamin C lowered levels of the inflammation biomarker after two months compared with those who took a placebo.

"This is an important distinction; treatment with vitamin C is ineffective in persons whose levels of C-reactive protein are less than 1 milligram per liter, but very effective for those with higher levels," Block said in a statement.

For those with elevated C-reactive protein levels, the amount of C-reactive protein reduction achieved by taking vitamin C supplements in this study is comparable to that in many other studies of statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs, Block said.

The study noted that several larger statin trials lowered C-reactive protein levels by about 0.2 milligrams per liter; in this latest study, vitamin C lowered C-reactive protein by 0.25 milligrams per liter.

The study is published online ahead of print of the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine.