Dietary vitamins C and E may protect against aortic aneurysm, dissection

People with higher intakes of vitamins C and E in their diet appear to be at lower risk of aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection, as shown in a study.

For the study, researchers used data from the UK Biobank and included 139,477 participants Biobank in the analysis.

The participants completed a 24-h recall questionnaire that covered dietary vitamin C and vitamin E intake. Data on incident cases of aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection were obtained from hospital inpatient records and death registers. Cox proportional regression analysis was performed to examine the associations between vitamin C and vitamin E intake and the risk of aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection.

A total of 962 incident cases of aortic aneurysm and dissection were recorded over a median follow-up of 12.5 years. The risk of incident aortic aneurysm and dissection was reduced among people in the highest versus lowest intake quartile of dietary vitamin C (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.77, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.63–0.93; p=0.008 for trend) and vitamin E (adjusted HR, 0.70, 95 percent CI, 0.57–0.87; p=0.002 for trend).

In subgroup analyses, the beneficial effect of higher dietary vitamin C and vitamin E intake on the outcome was stronger for participants who were over 60 years of age, those at high risk of aortic aneurysm and dissection, and those with smoking history, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia.

The findings highlight the potential of diet adjustment strategies targeted on vitamin C and vitamin E in lowering the incidence rate of aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection, especially in the high-risk population.