-Tocopherol Concentrations in Plasma but not in Lipoproteins Fluctuate during the Menstrual Cycle in Healthy Premenopausal Women

Manuscript received 21 November 1997. Initial reviews completed 12 December 1997. Revision accepted 27 March 1998.

Elaine Lanza, Michele R. Forman, Elizabeth J. Johnson^*, Richard A. Muesing, Barry I. Graubard, and Gary R. Beecher^**

Division of Clinical Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD; ^* The Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA;  Lipid Research Clinic Laboratory, Department of Medicine, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC; and ^** Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Beltsville, MD

Because premenopausal women experience cyclic fluctuations of plasma carotenoids and their lipoprotein carriers, it was hypothesized that plasma -tocopherol (A-T) fluctuates by phase of the menstrual cycle. Twelve free-living women, with a confirmed ovulatory cycle, were given a controlled diet for two consecutive menstrual cycles. Blood was drawn during the menses, early follicular, late follicular and luteal phases to simultaneously measure serum hormones, plasma lipoproteins and A-T concentrations, and A-T distribution in the lipoprotein fractions. Plasma A-T concentrations were significantly lower during menses than during the luteal phase by ~12% in each controlled diet cycle (P < 0.001). Adjustment for serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations did not alter these findings. The distributions of A-T in lipoprotein cholesterol fractions were not significantly different by menstrual phase. From 61 to 62% of A-T was concentrated in the LDL fraction, with another 9-14% in HDL₂, 17-22% in HDL₃ and the remaining 6-8% in VLDL+ IDL. There were no significant differences in lipoprotein cholesterol fractions by menstrual phase, except for a significant increase (P = 0.03) in HDL₂ cholesterol from the early follicular to the late follicular phase. Spearman rank correlations from data during the second controlled diet month showed A-T in HDL₂ in the late follicular phase was positively correlated with HDL cholesterol in the early follicular (r = 0.88), late follicular (r = 0.86) and luteal phases (r = 0.86) and with luteal apolipoprotein (ApoA-1) level (r = 0.90), and luteal HDL₂ cholesterol (r = 0.83). A-T in HDL₃ in the early follicular phase was negatively correlated with HDL₂ cholesterol (r = 0.96) and ApoA-1 (r = 0.85), whereas luteal A-T in HDL₃ was correlated with luteal HDL₃ cholesterol (r = 0.79). Late follicular A-T in VLDL was positively correlated with early follicular HDL₃ cholesterol and late follicular HDL₃ cholesterol (r = 0.83). Fluctuations of A-T concentrations by phase of the menstrual cycle should be taken into consideration in future research concerning premenopausal women and the risk of chronic disease.

The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 7 July 1998, pp. 1150-1155
Copyright ©1998 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

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