Anti-oxidants - a protective role in cardiovascular disease?

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Abstract
Established risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), such as hypertension, smoking and diabetes mellitus, explain only some of the observed variation in clinical events. This has maintained interest in other nutritional and biochemical factors that might contribute to the underlying pathophysiology of CVD. All of these risk factors are associated with increased oxidative stress in the vessel wall, which may contribute to CVD by several mechanisms. Studies in animal models of CVD have suggested that natural and synthetic anti-oxidants can prevent the development of clinical end points. These observations have generated the hypothesis that anti-oxidant therapy might also prevent CVD in human populations. This has been supported by epidemiological studies showing a negative correlation between circulating concentrations or dietary intake of natural anti-oxidant vitamins and CVD event rate. Many studies have also demonstrated a beneficial effect of anti-oxidants on surrogate markers of CVD such as endot...