Vitamin C lowers levels of inflammation biomarker considered predictor of hea...(the level used in the study. They co...)

They compared participants' baseline CRP levels with their levels two months later, at the end of the study. Fewer than half of the participants in the study started with elevated levels of CRP.

Participants who had baseline CRP levels less than 1 milligram per liter saw no significant effect on CRP levels after taking vitamin C supplements. However, those who started off with CRP levels of 1 milligram per liter or higher saw a 16.7 percent drop in levels after two months of treatment with vitamin C.

The researchers found no significant results for those taking vitamin E. They are uncertain as to why vitamin E did not show an effect even though it is also an antioxidant. Block noted that these vitamins have other functions independent of their antioxidant properties. Or, perhaps the difference relates to the fact that vitamin E is fat soluble and thus found in cell membranes while vitamin C is water soluble and found in intercellular fluid, the researchers said.

Although this study ended at two months, Block noted that there is no evidence to date of adverse effects for longer-term use of vitamin C at high levels. At the same time, researchers acknowledged the need to study whether vitamin C's beneficial impact on CRP levels continue past two months.

"This is clearly a line of research worth pursuing," said Block. "It has recently been suggested by some researchers that people with elevated CRP should be put on statins as a preventive measure. For people who have elevated CRP but not elevated LDL cholesterol, our data suggest that vitamin C should be investigated as an alternative to statins, or as something to be used to delay the time when statin use becomes necessary."

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