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Human Serum Carotenoid Concentrations Are Related to Physiologic and Lifestyle Factors^1,2,3,

Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, WI 53705-2397 ^* Department of Nutrition and Medical Dietetics, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Associated Health Professions, Chicago, IL 60612

We examined the concentrations of five carotenoids in the serum and diet of a population-based sample of 400 individuals to determine what physiologic and lifestyle factors were related to serum carotenoid concentrations, how these relationships differed among the carotenoids, and if these relationships refiected differences in carotenoid intake. Lower serum concentrations of -carotene, ß-carotene, ß-cryptoxanthin, and lutein + zeaxanthin generally were associated with male gender, smoking, younger age, lower non-HDL cholesterol, greater ethanol consumption and higher body mass index. Serum lycopene generally was not related to these factors, but lower lycopene levels were associated with older age and lower non-HDL cholesterol. Only the hydrocarbon carotenoids (- and ß-carotene and lycopene) were directly associated with HDL cholesterol. The associations of some factors (gender, age, smoking, and ethanol intake) with serum carotenoids were similar to the associations of these factors with levels in the diet, indicating that serum carotenoids may reflect the influence of these factors on carotenoid intake. Consistent with this notion, correlations between serum and dietary carotenoids did not differ between smokers and nonsmokers. Other factors (HDL and non-HDL cholesterol and body mass index) associated with carotenoids in the serum were not associated with carotenoid intake, indicating that physiologic conditions that affect the absorption, storage, and utilization of carotenoids may influence these associations. These physiologic and behavioral correlates of carotenoids could explain or modify associations of carotenoids with chronic diseases.

KEY WORDS: • carotenoids • humans

¹ Supported by National Institutes of Health grants EYO-8012 (J. A. Mares-Perlman) and EY0-6594 (R. Klein and B.E.K. Klein) and by unrestricted grants to the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences from Research to Prevent Blindness, Incorporated and the Wisconsin Lions Foundation.

² Presented in part at the annual meeting of the Society for Epidemiologic Research, June 1994, Miami, FL [Brady, W. E., Mares-Perlman, J. A., Lyle, B.J., VandenLangenberg, G. & Bowen, P. (1994) Correlates of individual carotenoids in the Nutritional Factors in Eye Disease Study. Am. J. Epidemiol. 139: S18 (abs.)].

³ The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 USC section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

⁴ To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Manuscript received 9 March 1995. Revision accepted 5 September 1995.