Vitamins C and E: Beneficial effects from a mechanistic perspective

By M. Traber, J. F. Stevens. Free Radical Biology & Medicine, 2011

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The mechanistic properties of two dietary antioxidants that are required by humans, vitamins C and E, are discussed relative to their biological effects. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an essential cofactor for α-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases. Examples are prolyl hydroxylases, which play a role in the biosynthesis of collagen and in down-regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1, a transcription factor that regulates many genes responsible for tumor growth, energy metabolism, and neutrophil function and apoptosis. Vitamin C-dependent inhibition of the HIF pathway may provide alternative or additional approaches for controlling tumor progression, infections and inflammation. Vitamin E (α-tocopherol) functions as an essential lipid soluble antioxidant, scavenging hydroperoxyl radicals in lipid milieu. Human symptoms of vitamin E deficiency suggest that its antioxidant properties play a major role in protecting erythrocyte membranes and nervous tissues. As an antioxidant, vitamin C provides protection against oxidative stress-induced cellular damage by scavenging of reactive oxygen species, vitamin E-dependent neutralization of lipid hydroperoxyl radicals, and by protecting proteins from alkylation by electrophilic lipid peroxidation products. These bioactivities bear relevance to inflammatory disorders. Vitamin C plays also a role in the function of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) by recycling the eNOS cofactor, tetrahydrobiopterin, which is relevant to arterial elasticity and blood pressure regulation. Evidence from plants supports a role for vitamin C in the formation of covalent adducts with electrophilic secondary metabolites. Mechanism-based effects of vitamin C and E supplementation on biomarkers and on clinical outcomes from randomized, placebo-controlled trials are emphasized in this review.

Subfields: Biochemistry, Cancer Research, Nutrition and Dietetics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8620ebae545c02d06b706a4bf48c5d7551f69a5e

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Citations in the corpus

• Role of natural antioxidants for the control of coccidiosis in poultry. (2013, background): “Vitamin E: Vitamin E (D-α tocopherol) is a fat soluble natural antioxidant that prevents the production of reactive oxygen species and donates the electrons to free radicals to form tocopherol radicals in cell membranes and turns them to their reduced stage (Traber and Stevens, 2011), maintaining th”
• Oxidative stress, free radicals and antioxidants: potential crosstalk in the pathophysiology of human diseases (2023, background): “OS has been associated with various possible diseases but rather vitamin E helps to delay or prevent the chronic ailments associated with free reactive molecules (Traber and Stevens, 2011).”
• A review of ascorbic acid potentialities against oxidative stress induced in plants (2011, background): “prolyl hydroxylases), important for the formation of covalent adducts with electrophilic secondary metabolites in plants (Traber and Stevens 2011).”
• Vitamin C physiology: the known and the unknown and Goldilocks (2016, neutral): “…Increase endothelium dependent vasodilatation, reduce extracellular oxidants from neutrophils, reduce low density lipoprotein oxidation, quench aqueous peroxyl radicals and lipid peroxidation products (Polidori et al., 2004, Richards et al., 2015, Ceriello et al., 2013, Traber & Stevens, 2011).”