VITACIN C METABOLISM IN ACTIVE SMOKERS. DO THEY NEED VITAMIN C SUPPLEMENTS?

Smoking is a established cardiovascular disease risk factor. Oxygen derived free radicals play a crucial role in causing endothelial dysfunction. Endothelial dysfunction in turn has been proposed to play a pathogenic role in the initiation of vascular diseases. Vitamin c is an important physiological antioxidant. Vitamin c has also been shown to regenerate other antioxidants within the body. By limiting the damaging effects of free radicals through its antioxidant activity it might help prevent or delay the development of certain diseases including cardiovascular diseases. This study was aimed to evaluate vitamin C metabolism in chronic smokers from central Bihar, India. 50 male cigarette smokers and 50 male non-smokers were enrolled. It was found that mean serum vitamin C level were significantly lowered and mean urinary vitamin C excretion were significantly higher in smokers as compared to non-smokers. Serum vitamin C level and urinary excretion of vitamin C showed a inverse strong correlation in smokers (r=- -0.9335 ) but interestingly this correlation was very poor in non-smokers(r=-0.2201). .So smoking causes serious risk of hypovitaminosis which may lead to serious diseases including cardiovascular disease. For active smokers vitamin C supplementation should be seriously considered, if cessation of smoking is not possible.