Abstract

Objective: To assess the relationship between the serum concentrations of vitamins C & E and the severity of coronary artery disease.
Subjects and methods: In a case-control study, we evaluated 200 patients who underwent coronary angiography at AL-Basrah Cardiac Center at Al-Sader Teaching Hospital, Basra, Iraq. They were separated into two groups of case (patients with CAD) and control (non CAD). Four milliliters of blood samples were taken for measuring vitamin E and C. For statistical analyses, chi-square test, Student’s t-test, one-way ANOVA, and the logistic regression were used.
Results: In the present study, 94 participants with CAD in the case group and 106 participants free of CAD in the control group were included in the analysis. At baseline, there were significant differences in serum vitamin C ,vitamin E and some cardiovascular risk factors(diabetes, hypertension and smoking habits) between the two groups (P < 0.05). Moreover, when other risk factors of CVD were included in the model, serum vitamin C (Odd Ratio (OR = 0.8, 95% CI= 0.68-0.92, P = 0.0001) and serum Vitamin E (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.578-0.754, P = 0.0001) were associated with CAD. There were a significant (P < 0.05) statistical changes in the vitamin C and E among the three sub groups of CAD patients being more deficient as the disease become more severe.
Conclusions: Low serum vitamin C and E concentrations were associated with CAD and related to its severity.