ADA: Antioxidants Don't Reduce Preeclampsia Risk

But vitamin C, E supplements may benefit pregnant diabetes patients with low antioxidant status

MONDAY, June 28 (HealthDay News) -- In pregnant women with type 1 diabetes, supplementation with vitamins C and E does not reduce the risk of preeclampsia, though vitamin supplementation might benefit women with a low antioxidant status at baseline, according to research published online June 26 in The Lancet to coincide with presentation at the American Diabetes Association's 70th Scientific Sessions, held from June 25 to 29 in Orlando, Fla.

David R. McCance, of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, U.K., and colleagues from the Diabetes and Preeclampsia Intervention Trial (DAPIT) randomly assigned 762 women aged 16 and older with type 1 diabetes who presented between eight and 22 weeks' gestation to receive either 1,000 mg vitamin C and 400 IU vitamin E or matched placebo daily until delivery.

Overall, the researchers found that rates of preeclampsia were not significantly different in the supplementation and placebo groups (15 versus 19 percent). Among women with initially low antioxidant status, however, their results suggested that supplementation was associated with a significantly lower risk of preeclampsia. However, they cautioned that this finding requires further study. They also found that supplementation was not associated with adverse maternal or neonatal outcomes.

"The etiology of preeclampsia might be multifactorial. Some cases might be caused by immunological factors, others by dietary factors, and others because of preexisting medical conditions, or by a combination of these factors," writes the author of an accompanying comment. "Therefore any single intervention is unlikely to be effective in prevention."

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