![]() |
|
|

*
Department of Foods and Nutrition, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 and
The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19104
2To whom correspondence should be addressed.
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Ken Carroll was born on March 9, 1923, at Carrolls Crossing, New Brunswick. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of New Brunswick. He earned an M.A. at the University of Toronto and received the first doctorate awarded by the University of Western Ontario in 1949 working under the direction of J. B. Collip. Except for two years spent at Cambridge University as a postdoctoral fellow, Kens entire scientific career was spent at the University of Western Ontario. He became professor of biochemistry in 1968, and after reaching emeritus status in 1988 he was a principal organizer of the Center for Human Nutrition of which he was director until his death.
Ken Carrolls research interests involved the role of nutrition, especially lipids and proteins, in development of atherosclerosis and cancer. His work in these areas resulted in several studies which we now view as classics.
Among his more than 280 publications is the landmark study of fatty
acid saturation and experimental carcinogenesis which elucidated the
cocarcinogenic differences among the various fatty acids
(Carroll and Kohr 1971
). These data were among the first
to recognize the negative impact of polyunsaturated fatty acids in this
cancer model. Soon after, Dr. Carroll published a graph illustrating
the relationship between fat availability (source and level) and
mortality from breast cancer in more than 30 countries (Carroll 1975
). This graph has become an icon in his field and is
frequently cited, even today. And his discussion of these data in the
context of a variety of diseases and concomitant changes in other
components of the diet remain as valid opinions which should be basic
reading for everyone entering this field.
At a time when several groups were investigating the source of
cholesterolemia in rabbits fed a semipurified diet compared to a
commercial ration, Ken Carroll began the reinvestigation of effects of
animal and plant sources of dietary proteins on experimental
atherosclerosis, an area that had not been looked at carefully for
several decades (Hamilton and Carroll 1976
). His efforts
provided an impetus to a series of experiments that suggested several
mechanisms for these differences, the most recent of which appeared in
this journal (Giroux et al. 1999
). These studies greatly
advanced our understanding of the role of dietary protein source in
regulation of cholesterol metabolism.
In recent years Kens work involved the effects of tocotrienols and
citrus flavonoids on the growth of tumor cells in vitro. This work
ranged from the feeding of orange juice to rats given a carcinogen
(DMBA) to treatment of human breast cancer cell lines with isolated
flavonoids in vitro (Guthrie and Carroll 1998
, So et al. 1997
).
In the course of his career, Ken Carroll was the recipient of a number of honors and awards. Among these was election as Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada and of the Royal Society of Canada. He was honored with the Earle Willard McHenry Award of the Canadian Society of Nutritional Sciences, with election as Fellow of the American Institute of Nutrition and with presentation of the Life Time Achievement Award of the Canadian Section of the American Oil Chemists Society. In 1993 he received an honorary D.Sc. degree from his alma mater, the University of New Brunswick. Ken also served on the editorial board for The Journal of Nutrition as well as the Canadian Journal of Biochemistry, Lipids, Atherosclerosis and Nutrition and Cancer and as an officer for a number of the societies to which he belonged, including president of the Canadian Atherosclerosis Society.
Ken is survived by his wife, Margaret, three sons and seven grandchildren.
This was Ken Carrollan outstanding scientist who had a major impact on our understanding of nutrition and chronic disease. But this list of his contributions pales in comparison to the Ken we knew as a person who gave generously and gladly of his time, knowledge and abilities to his colleagues and the organizations to which he belonged. Most importantly, he was a friend to many.
He faced his final illness with his usual courage and class, writing letters of farewell to many of his friends and colleagues. His loss will be felt keenly.
|
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
1.
Carroll K. K. Experimental evidence of dietary factors and hormone-dependent cancers. Cancer Res 1975;35:3374-3383
2.
Carroll K. K., Kohr H. T. Effects of level and type of dietary fat on incidence of mammary tumors induced in female Sprague-Dawley rats by 7,12-dimethylbenz(
)anthracene. Lipids 1971;6:415-420[Medline]
3.
Giroux I., Kurowska E. M., Freeman D. J., Carroll K. K. Addition of arginine but not glycine to lysine plus methionine-enriched diets modulates serum cholesterol and liver phospholipids in rabbits. J. Nutr. 1999;129:1807-1813
4. Guthrie N., Carroll K. K. Inhibition of mammary cancer by citrus flavonoids. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 1998;439:227-236[Medline]
5. Hamilton R. M., Carroll K. K. Plasma cholesterol levels in rabbits fed low fat, low cholesterol diets: effects of dietary proteins, carbohydrates and fibre from different sources. Atheroscler 1976;24:47-62
6. So F. V., Guthrie N., Chambers A. F., Carroll K. K. Inhibition of proliferation of estrogen receptor-positive MCF-7 human breast cancer cells by flavonoids in the presence and absence of excess estrogen. Cancer Lett 1997;112:127-133[Medline]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||