Primary Prevention Trial of the Health Effects of Antioxidant Vitamins and Minerals.

December 16, 2009 updated by: Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France

The SU.VI.MAX Study. A Randomized, Placebo-controlled Prevention Trial of the Health Effects of Antioxidant Vitamins and Minerals.

It has been suggested that a low dietary intake of antioxidant vitamins and minerals increases the incidence rate of cardiovascular disease and cancer. To date, however, the published results of randomized, placebo-controlled trials of supplements containing antioxidant nutrients have not provided clear evidence of a beneficial effect. We tested the efficacy of nutritional doses of supplementation with a combination of antioxidant vitamins and minerals in reducing the incidence of cancer and ischemic cardiovascular disease in the general population.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

From experimental studies it is known that free radicals may induce numerous pathological processes, and it has been suggested that, because of their antioxidant capacity, nutrients such as beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and zinc may prevent such harmful effects. Epidemiological data from cross-sectional, case-control, and prospective studies have indeed shown a strong relationship between the intake of antioxidant vitamins and minerals, or foods rich in these nutrients, and the risk of cancer and ischaemic cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, randomised placebo-controlled primary prevention trials, in which antioxidant micronutrients alone or in pairs were given at high doses over long periods, have not been able to prove this potential beneficial effect, and two of these even suggested harmful effects. The seemingly contradictory results between the observational studies and these randomised trials can be explained by the fact that the doses used in clinical trials were much higher than the highest levels reachable by usual dietary intake which have been found to be associated in observational studies with the lowest risk of cancer and CVD. In fact, the only trial which did observe a beneficial effect on total mortality and cancer incidence used nutritional doses of a combination of several vitamins and minerals and was performed on Chinese population with very low baseline micronutrient status, due to poor life conditions in this region (9).

The objective of the "SUpplementation en VItamines et Minéraux AntioXydants" (SU.VI.MAX) study, was to test in a randomised, placebo-controlled trial, if an adequate and well balanced intake of antioxidant nutrients reduces the incidence of cancers and ischaemic cardiovascular diseases in a middle-age general population.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

13000

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • France
      • Paris, France, 75003
        • U557 Inserm

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

35 years to 60 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • women aged 35-60 years, men aged 45-60 years
  • acceptance of the possibility to be given a placebo and acceptance of the constraints of participation
  • lack of previous regular supplementation with any of the vitamins or minerals in the supplement provided
  • absence of extreme beliefs or behavior regarding diet

Exclusion Criteria:

  • disease likely to hinder active participation or threatened 5-year survival

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Major fatal and non fatal ischemic cardiovascular events
Cancer any kind except for basal cell skin carcinoma

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Health-related quality of life
All cause mortality
Intermediate criteria of clinical status
Intermediate criteria of biological status
Intermediate criteria of anthropometric status

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France

Collaborators

French private agencies

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Serge Hercberg, MD, PhD, U557 Inserm (UMR Inserm/Inra/CNAM), Institut Scientifique et Technique de la Nutrition et de l'Alimentation/CNAM

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

October 1, 1994

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 3, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 4, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

January 6, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

December 17, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 16, 2009

Last Verified

October 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 94-706

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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