Last year, Jialal, also a senior investigator in the center, reported that a minimum dose of 400 International Units of vitamin E per day produced a protective effect. Few studies have dealt with diabetic patients even though they are more prone to premature atherosclerosis, the leading cause of heart attacks and strokes. Diabetics also experience greater protein glycation than nondiabetics. Protein glycation is the result of glucose binding to proteins. If glucose binds to LDL, it increases the buildup of atherosclerotic plaque.
Diabetics typically have high glucose levels.
Jialal and his team wanted to see if vitamin E could reduce LDL oxidation and decrease protein glycation in diabetics. The Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin E is 10 milligrams. Compared with the placebo group, the supplemented group had significant reductions in LDL oxidation. There was no effect on the level of protein glycation. The study was funded by the Henkel Corp. Jialal recently received a three-year grant from the American Diabetes Association to continue his studies on Vitamin E, oxidation, glycation and monocyte function in diabetics.