Vitamin E and vascular homeostasis: implications for atherosclerosis. |
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Authors: | J F Keaney D I Simon J E Freedman |
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Institution: | Evans Memorial Department of Medicine and Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, 02118, USA. jkeaney@bu.edu |
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Abstract: | Considerable epidemiologic data suggest that dietary consumption of vitamin E reduces the incidence of cardiovascular disease. The precise mechanisms are not clear, but emerging data indicate that vitamin E has numerous activities that may, in part, explain its effect on vascular disease. In particular, vitamin E enhances the bioactivity of nitric oxide, inhibits smooth muscle proliferation, and limits platelet aggregation. One common mechanism to account for these effects of vitamin E is the inhibition of protein kinase C stimulation. In the setting of atherosclerosis, inhibition of protein kinase C by vitamin E would be expected to maintain normal vascular homeostasis and thus reduce the clinical incidence of cardiovascular disease. |
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