Arch Intern Med. 2010 Nov 22. [Epub ahead of print]
Serum {alpha}-Carotene Concentrations and Risk of Death Among US Adults: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Follow-up Study.
Li C, Ford ES, Zhao G, Balluz LS, Giles WH, Liu S.
Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services (Drs Li and Balluz), and Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (Drs Ford, Zhao, and Giles), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; and Departments of Epidemiology and Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles (Dr Liu).
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Much research has been conducted relating total carotenoids-and ß-carotene in particular-to risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Limited data are emerging to implicate the important role of a-carotene in the development of CVD or cancer.
METHODS: We assessed the direct relationship between a-carotene concentrations and risk of death among 15 318 US adults 20 years and older who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Follow-up Study. We used Cox proportional hazard regression analyses to estimate the relative risk for death from all causes and selected causes associated with serum a-carotene concentrations.
RESULTS: Compared with participants with serum a-carotene concentrations of 0 to 1 µg/dL (to convert to micromoles per liter, multiply by 0.01863), those with higher serum levels had a lower risk of death from all causes (P < .001 for linear trend): the relative risk for death was 0.77 (95% confidence interval, 0.68-0.87) among those with a-carotene concentrations of 2 to 3 µg/dL, 0.73 (0.65-0.83) among those with concentrations of 4 to 5 µg/dL, 0.66 (0.55-0.79) among those with concentrations of 6 to 8 µg/dL, and 0.61 (0.51-0.73) among those with concentrations of 9 µg/dL or higher after adjustment for potential confounding variables. We also found significant associations between serum a-carotene concentrations and risk of death from CVD (P = .007), cancer (P = .02), and all other causes (P < .001). The association between serum a-carotene concentrations and risk of death from all causes was significant in most subgroups stratified by demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, and health risk factors.
CONCLUSIONS: Serum a-carotene concentrations were inversely associated with risk of death from all causes, CVD, cancer, and all other causes. These findings support increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as a means of preventing premature death.
PMID: 21098341 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] |
