Some people with diabetes may benefit from taking Vitamin E, according to an international team of scientists.

Vitamin E’s possible heart benefits are described in a letter published in the recent issue of the Journal Diabetes Care.

The HOPE trial tested the benefits of taking 400 international units of vitamin E daily for 4.5 years. It found that vitamin E supplements had no significant benefits against heart attack, stroke, and death from cardiovascular disease, regardless of diabetes status. However, the trial might have missed a key piece of information. Participants with a particular form of a blood protein called haptoglobin who took vitamin E cut their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 55% and decreased their risk of nonfatal heart attack by 43%, researchers said.

Haptoglobin comes in three forms: 2-2, I-I, and 2-I. Haptoglobin 2-2 form is the worst of the three at fighting disease-causing free radicals. People with diabetes who have haptoglobin’s 2-2 form of the protein have a higher risk of cardiovascular “events” such as heart attacks, write the researchers.

About 40% of people with diabetes have the 2-2 form of haptoglobin. The team noted the possible vitamin E-haptoglobin connection after examining the original trial for haptoglobin subtype. However, vitamin E didn’t show the same protective trend against stroke.

A larger five-year study of people with diabetes with haptoglobin 2-2 subtype is underway in Israel, if the larger study confirms the findings, the public heath implications would be huge, researchers say.