The Effect of Combined Vitamin C and Vitamin E Supplementation on Oxidative Stress Markers in Women with Endometriosis: A Randomized, Triple-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Leila Amini, Razieh Chekini, Mohammad Reza Nateghi, Hamid Haghani, Tannaz Jamialahmadi, Thozhukat Sathyapalan, Amirhossein Sahebkar
Pain research & management · 2021 · vol. 2021 , pp. 1–6 · doi:10.1155/2021/5529741 · PMID:34122682 · W3164311002
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 78 in-corpus citations
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Combined vitamin C and E supplementation significantly reduced oxidative stress markers, pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and dyspareunia in women with endometriosis compared to placebo.

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Abstract

Background. Endometriosis is a chronic and estrogen-dependent pelvic inflammatory disease, which may have various causes, such as oxidative stress. Dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, and pelvic pain are well-known symptoms of endometriosis. The present clinical trial assessed the role of supplementation with antioxidant vitamins on the indices of oxidative stress as well as the severity of pain in women with endometriosis. Materials and Methods. We enrolled 60 reproductive-aged (15–45 years) women with pelvic pain in this triple-blind clinical trial. They had 1–3 stages of laparoscopic-proven endometriosis. The participants were randomized to group A (n = 30), given vitamin C (1000 mg/day, 2 tablets of 500 mg each) and vitamin E (800 IU/day, 2 tablets of 400 IU each) combination, or group B (n = 30), given placebo pills daily for 8 weeks. Results. Following treatment with vitamin C and vitamin E, we found a significant reduction in MDA and ROS compared with the placebo group. There was no significant decline in total antioxidant capacity after treatment. However, the severity of pelvic pain ( p value <0.001), dysmenorrhea ( p value <0.001), and dyspareunia ( p value <0.001) significantly decreased in the treatment group after 8 weeks of supplementation. Conclusions. The present findings support the potential role of antioxidants in the management of endometriosis. The intake of vitamin C and vitamin E supplements effectively reduced dysmenorrhea severity and improved dyspareunia and severity of pelvic pain.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisdysmenorrheadyspareunia

MeSH descriptors

Antioxidants Ascorbic Acid Biomarkers Endometriosis Oxidative Stress Pain Management Vitamin E Adult Antioxidants Ascorbic Acid Biomarkers Dietary Supplements Dietary Supplements Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Middle Aged Oxidative Stress Pain Management

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