effect of ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol supplementations on serum leptin, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and serum amyloid a levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus

objective: diabetes mellitus type 2 is one of the most widespread chronic metabolic diseases. in most cases, this type of diabetes is associated with alterations in levels of some inflammatory cytokines and hormones. considering anti-inflammatory properties of plant extracts rich in ascorbic acid (vitamin c) and alpha-tocopherol (vitamin e), anti-diabetic properties of these two well-known antioxidant vitamins were investigated through measurement of serum levels of high-sensitivity c-reactive protein (hs-crp), insulin, leptin, tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf-α), and serum amyloid a (saa) in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2. methods: male patients (n=80) were randomly divided into two groups each consisted of 40 subjects. test groups were supplemented with ascorbic acid (1000 mg/day) or alpha-tocopherol (300 mg/day) orally during four weeks. before and after treatment, serum biochemical factors of subjects were measured and compared. results: our results showed that both ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol could induce significant anti-inflammatory effects by decreasing the level of inflammatory factors such as tnf-α, saa, and hs-crp in diabetes mellitus type 2 patients. effects of alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid in decreasing serum leptin level were similar. ascorbic acid in contrast to alpha-tocopherol diminished fasting insulin and homa index but had no effect on ldl serum level. conclusion: concerning the obtained results, it is concluded that consumption of supplementary vitamins c and e could decrease induced inflammatory response in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2.  it is also possible that vitamin c and vitamin e supplementation can attenuate incidence of some proposed pathological effects of diabetes mellitus.