Abstract
Background
Oral contraceptives (OCs) may affect oxidative stress status. We aimed to assess whether
supplementation with vitamins E and C reduced this OC effect.
Study Design
One hundred twenty healthy female individuals were divided into three groups: A, control;
B, untreated OCU (OC users); and C, treated OCU (OC users with vitamin E and C supplementation).
In all cases, plasma glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GR) activities
and malondialdehyde (MDA) level were determined.
Results
Significant increases were found in the plasma MDA level, and activities of GPx and
GR in plasma were decreased in Group B compared to the control group. Supplementation
with vitamin C and E significantly increased the activity of GPx and GR activity,
and reduced plasma MDA levels in Group C (p<.05).
Conclusions
These data suggest that low-dose OCs, by enhancing the stress oxidative and lipid
peroxidation, may represent a potential cardiovascular risk factor, and the use of
vitamins E and C may be beneficial in ameliorating this side effect of OCs.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 11, 2012
Accepted:
November 16,
2011
Received in revised form:
November 16,
2011
Received:
August 16,
2011
Footnotes
���This study was supported by a welcome grant from the Office of Vice Chancellor for Research, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
