U. doctors show antioxidant vitamins may prevent cardiovascular problems

Discovery may lead to antioxidant treatment to prevent complications during heart surgery Scientists at the University's Medical Center have demonstrated that antioxidant vitamins may help prevent complications in heart surgery patients. Recent research has shown that antioxidant vitamins -- such as vitamin E -- may protect against health problems associated with aging, including cardiovascular problems. Antioxidants curb the activity of volatile molecules called free radicals, limiting the injury they inflict on tissues of the body. University scientists have shown that free radical molecules also cause damage following heart bypass surgery or heart attack treatment during the critical period called reprofusion when blood flow is restored to the heart muscle. The fact that serious complications often occur during reprofusion despite the renewed blood supply has baffled heart surgeons. Using a new test, University researchers documented a sharp rise in free radical activity following reprofusion, suggesting that oxidant stress may cause heart failure during reprofusion. Such a link has been suspected for a long time, but has not been conclusively proven until now. Garret FitzGerald -- Chairperson of the pharmacology department and senior author of the study -- said the test could lead to developing antioxidant treatments. "Using this approach, we can rationally evaluate precise doses of antioxidant vitamins or drugs with the aim of suppressing the free-radical mechanism during reprofusion and then seeing whether there are benefits for patients," FitzGerald said. He added, "Once we've defined the appropriate doses, we will be able to assess whether giving these compounds before surgery leads to improved outcomes." FitzGerald and his colleagues developed a test that uses gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to measure urinary levels of a biochemical called 8-epi PGF2-alpha -- a fatty acid found in cell membranes throughout the body which is the result of free radical molecule attacks on arachidonic acid. "What we found is that, in clinical settings of reprofusion, specifically in people undergoing bypass surgery and in people given thromylitic drugs to treat myocardial infarction, we see a pronounced elevation of this biochemical marker of oxidant stress," FitzGerald said. Funding for the study was provided by the Wellcome Fund, the Health Research Board of Ireland, the Irish Heart Foundation and the National Institute of Health. In 1996, the University's Medical Center received $149 in grants from the National Institute of Health -- the nation's primary source for biomedical research funding. The University's Medical Center ranked fifth in NIH funding last year and posted a 9.1 percent growth rate in funding -- the highest among the nation's top ten academic medical centers.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.