A comparative trial on the efficacy of vitamin c as add on therapy to the oral hypoglycemic agent on serum lipid level in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background: Diabetic patients are more prone to develop cardiovascular diseases due to rise in blood glucose and serum cholesterol level. There will be elevated free radicals and decreased antioxidants like vitamin C level in these patients. Vitamin C has shown beneficial effect in controlling serum lipids and blood glucose level. Aim: to study the effect of different doses of Vitamin C on serum lipid level Methods : A total of 90 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes referred to Government Hospital, Chennai, India, were included in the study. Patients were divided into 3 groups. They received randomly glibenclamide 5mg, glibenclamide 5mg with vitamin C 1g and glibenclamide 5mg with vitamin C 2g orally for 8-weeks. Investigations like Fasting blood sugar (FBS), Postprandial blood sugar (PPBS), Lipid profile: LDL, HDL, TG, TC were measured before and after vitamin C consumption and the results were analyzed. Results : Significant increase in HDL level (p 0.01)seen in group supplemented with vitamin C 2g when compared to group supplemented with vitamin c 1gm at the end of 8^th week. There was significant reduction in TG, LDL and TC level in each group at the end of 8^th week but no significant difference in between the groups. Conclusions : Vitamin C in a dose of 2g/day as add on therapy to oral hypoglycemic agent produces improvement in lipid profile to the desirable levels and thus reducing the risk of diabetic complications.