Research paper
Vitamins C and E to prevent complications of pregnancy-associated hypertension.
Study answer
What this study found
Vitamin C plus vitamin E did not reduce the primary composite outcome of pregnancy-associated hypertension with adverse maternal, fetal, or neonatal outcomes. The primary outcome occurred in 305 women (6.1%) in the vitamin group versus 285 (5.7%) with placebo, RR 1.07 (95% CI 0.91 to 1.25; P = 0.42). Preeclampsia was also unchanged, 358 (7.2%) versus 332 (6.7%), RR 1.07 (0.93 to 1.24; P = 0.33), and most neonatal outcomes were similar. Pregnancy-associated hypertension was higher with vitamins, 1457 (29.2%) versus 1322 (26.6%), RR 1.10 (1.03 to 1.17; P = 0.004).
- Study & population
- Multicenter randomized placebo-controlled trial in nulliparous pregnant women at low risk for preeclampsia with singleton pregnancies, enrolled before 16 weeks of gestation.
- Intervention
- Participants in the active arm received oral capsules containing vitamin C 1000 mg daily as ascorbic acid plus vitamin E 400 IU daily as RRR-alpha-tocopherol acetate, started between 9 and 16 weeks of pregnancy and continued until delivery.
- Key limitation
- The intervention was tested in a specific low-risk, nulliparous singleton-pregnancy population, which limits generalizability.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
BACKGROUND Oxidative stress has been proposed as a mechanism linking the poor placental perfusion characteristic of preeclampsia with the clinical manifestations of the disorder. We assessed the effects of antioxidant supplementation with vitamins C …