Journal List > Korean J Nutr > v.42(2) > 1043743

Hwang, Soh, and Lim: Effects of Folic Acid and Ascorbate Supplementation on Plasma Homocysteine and Oxidative Stress in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

In patients with type 2 diabetes, oxidative stress could be increased by their metabolic changes. Elevated plasma homocysteine is considered as one of markers of enhanced oxidative stress. Due to oxidative stress, some complications like cardiovascular or renal diseases may develop in type 2 diabetes patients. Plasma homocysteine concentration may be increased if folate status were inadequate. Protective effects against oxidative stress may be diminished if the status of anti-oxidative nutrient as vitamin C was poor. It is, therefore, important to maintain adequate status of folate and vitamin C in type 2 diabetes patients. Thus, this study was performed to determine the effects of supplementation of folate and/or ascorbate on blood glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, serum concentrations of homocysteine and cholesterol, plasma oxidized low density-lipoprotein (LDL), concentration and plasma glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in the patients with type 2 diabetes. A total of 92 type 2 diabetes patients participated voluntarily with written consents. They were divided into one of the four experimental groups; Control (C), Folate-supplemented (F), Ascorbate-supplemented (A), and Folate plus ascorbate-supplemented (FA). The subjects in C were taken placebo, those in F were supplemented 1 mg of folate, those in A received 1,000 mg of ascorbate, and those in FA were given 1 mg of folate plus 1,000 mg of ascorbate daily for 4 weeks. Supplementation of folate or ascorbate resulted to increase serum folate level or plasma ascorbate concentration apparently, respectively. Folate supplementation not ascorbate seemed to decrease plasma concentrations of homocysteine and oxidized LDL and reduce plasma GSH-Px activity. There might not be synergic effect of the supplementation of folate plus ascorbate. The results indicate that oxidative stress in the patients with type 2 diabetes may lower mainly by folate supplementation.

Figures and Tables

Table 1
Experimental design
kjn-42-107-i001
Table 2
Age, disease duration, anthropometry, and blood pressure of the subjects
kjn-42-107-i002

Values are Mean ± SD.

Values with asterisks are significantly different between male and female within each group by Student t-test: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

C: control, F: folate-supplemented, A: ascorbate-supplemented, FA: folate plus ascorbate-supplemented

Table 3
Nutrient intakes of the subjects
kjn-42-107-i003

Values are Mean ± SD.

Values with asterisks are significantly different between male and female within each group by Student t-test: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

C: control, F: folate-supplemented, A: ascorbate-supplemented, FA: folate plus ascorbate-supplemented, EAR: estimated average requirement

Table 4
Plasma concentrations of folate and ascorbate of the subjects before and after supplementation for 4 weeks
kjn-42-107-i004

Values are Mean ± SD.

Values with asterisks are significantly different between male and female within each group by Student t-test: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Values with different large superscripts are significantly different between 0 and 4 week at p < 0.05 by paired test.

C: control, F: folate-supplemented, A: ascorbate-supplemented, FA: folate plus ascorbate-supplemented

Table 5
Blood HbA1C and plasma Hcy concentrations of the subjects before and after supplementation for 4 weeks
kjn-42-107-i005

Values are Mean ± SD.

Values with asterisks are significantly different between male and female within each group by Student t-test: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Values with different small superscripts are significantly different between the four groups at p < 0.05 by Tukey's test.

Values with different large superscripts are significantly different between 0 and 4 week at p < 0.05 by paired test.

C: control, F: folate-supplemented, A: ascorbate-supplemented, FA: folate plus ascorbate-supplemented, FBG: fasting blood glucose, HbA1c: glycated hemoglobin, Hcy: homocysteine

Table 6
Concentrations of serum T-C, LDL-C and plasma oxidized LDL and glutathione peroxidase activity of the subjects before and after supplementation for 4 weeks
kjn-42-107-i006

Values are Mean ± SD.

Values with asterisks are significantly different between male and female within each group by Student t-test: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Values with different large superscripts are significantly different between 0 and 4 week at p < 0.05 by paired test.

C: control, F: folate-supplemented, A: ascorbate-supplemented, FA: folate plus ascorbate-supplemented, LDL: low density lipoprotein, T-C: total-cholesterol, LDL-C: low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, GSH-Px: glutathione peroxidase

Notes

This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by Korea Government (MOEHRD, Basic Research Promotion Fund (KRF-C00094).

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