Vitamina A e carotenóide pró-vitamina A nas doenças cardiovasculares: uma revisão integrativa

Abstract

Vitamin A has an action potentially able to interfere with the oxidative damage present in the development of cardiovascular diseases, such as the acute myocardial infarction. Perform an integrative review of recent studies available in the literature about vitamin A action in cardiovascular outcomes. This integrative review was based on the guiding issue: "What are the published scientific evidence regarding the role of vitamin A / β-carotene in cardiovascular diseases?" The searches were carried out in the International Pubmed / Medline database in April 2021 using terms such as "Vitamin A / Therapeutic Use" and its similar, combined with population classes and outcome of interest (cardiovascular disease), through operators Booleans "or" and "and". The inclusion criteria were the date of publication (2011 to 2021), the language (Portuguese, English and Spanish), the study design and alignment with the subject in question. Twenty-three articles were selected, including systematic revisions with meta-analysis, cross studies, cohorts, preclinical tests and clinical trials. The antioxidant action attributed to vitamin A and β-carotene consists of sequestering peroxyl radicals involved in lipid peroxidation and stabilizing reactive oxygen species, processes included in the genesis of atherosclerosis and the acute myocardial infarction. This protective action can be observed especially in epidemiological studies and in experiments with animal models. However, the effects of vitamin A / β-carotene are not fully elucidated in the literature since, so far, it was not evidenced preventive action of supplemental vitamin A / β-carotene in humans, while vitamin A deficiency and supplementation with high doses seem to contribute to the development of cardiovascular diseases.