Vitamin E and the Treatment and Prevention of Diabetes: A Case for a Controlled Clinical Trial

B Halliwell
Correspondence: Barry Halliwell, bchbh@nus.edu.sg

ABSTRACT
Strategies to delay the onset and ameliorate the sequelae of type 2 diabetes are urgently needed in Singapore. Diabetes is accompanied by severe oxidative stress (especially lipid peroxidation) due to increased oxygen free radical production. Oxidative stress in part results from hyperglycaemia, but it may also precede, and accelerate the development of overt type 2 diabetes and then of diabetic complications. Epidemiological evidence indicates low vitamin E intake as a risk factor for development of type 2 diabetes, and small scale human intervention studies have indicated benefit of vitamin E in improving endothelial function, retinal blood flow and renal dysfunction. Animal studies also support its usefulness. The weight of evidence available supports the suggestion that a major double-blind controlled clinical trial of antioxidants in prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes should be undertaken.

Keywords: Diabetes, Vitamin E, lipid peroxidation, oxidative damage, free radical
Singapore Med J 2002; 43(9): 479-484