• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2004

Insufficient dietary intake of vitamin A is one of the major nutritional problems for elderly adults in some parts of Korea. The objective of this study was to determine the vitamin A nutritional status of elderly adults in Asan, Korea by assessing the dietary intake and serum retinol concentration. Five hundred twenty four subjects (218 male and 306 female) over 65 years were recruited from city of Asan. Each subject was interviewed to assess the intake of vitamin A using a 24hr recall method and data were analysed from computer-aided nutrient analysis program. Blood samples after 12hr fasting were collected for serum retinol concentration and reverse phased HPLC with UV detector used. The results showed that subjects did not consume the sufficient amount of energy (82-85% of Korean RDA for male and 77-79% RDA for female) and vitamin A (59% RDA for male and 50% RDA for female). Range for retinol intake was 0 to $4342\;{\mu}g$ a day while that of beta-carotene was 65 to $31595\;{\mu}g$. Serum retinol concentrations were within a normal range for both male ($80\;{\mu}g/dl$) and female ($67\;{\mu}g/dl$) subjects. Many subjects (n=342) consumed less than 50% RDA of vitamin A. However, if retinol intake was high (> $37\;{\mu}g$), even with less than 50% RDA of vitamin A intake, serum retinol concentration was high ($75\;{\mu}g/dl$). Subjects showed normal serum retinol status even with low vitamin A intake. The results suggested that optimal intake ratio of dietary retinol and carotenoid is important to maintain an appropriate serum retinol concentration.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1109-1115
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• 1997

The present study was aimed to investigated whether there are age-and sex-related differences in serum levels of lipid peroxides, retinol , and $\alpha$-tocopherol in Korean adults. The subjects were 441 persons , including 268 men and 173 women. Those of each sex were divided into four age group : 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 and 50-65 years, and their lifestyles and serum levels were compared . Men smoked and drank less as age increased , but 99.9% of women of did not smoke and only 11% drank more than once a month. Lipid peroxides of males increased gradually with age, while those of females showed greater levels in the 50-65 years group thon younger groups. Lipid peroxides, retinol and $\alpha$-tocopherol concentrations, which were adjusted for age, were significantly higher in males than in females. Lipid peroxide levels adjusted for total lipid were positively correlated with age in males than in females. Serum levels of $\alpha$-tocopherol adjusted for total lipid were positively correlated with age both in males and in females , while retinol was neither. The results indicate that serum levels of lipid peroxides, retinol , and $\alpha$-tocopherol are affected by age and that the response could be different between males and females.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.2981-2986
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• 2015

Background: Despite many epidemiological studies on the effects of dietary antioxidant micronutrients on risk of cervical cancer, the findings remain uncertain and little evidence is available for serum nutrient markers. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between serum carotenoid, retinol and tocopherol concentrations and risk of cervical cancer among Chinese women. Materials and Methods: We conducted a hospital-based case-control study in which 358 adults (158 incident cases and 200 controls) were recruited from Xinjiang, China. Serum levels of carotenoids (${\alpha}$-carotene, ${\beta}$-carotene, ${\beta}$-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and lutein/zeaxanthin), retinol, and tocopherols (${\alpha}$-tocopherol and ${\gamma}$-tocopherol) were assessed by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Results: We found inverse associations between serum carotenoid (${\alpha}$-carotene, ${\beta}$-carotene, and lutein/zeaxanthin) and tocopherol (${\alpha}$-tocopherol) concentrations and the risk of cervical cancer after adjusting for potential confounders, but a null association for retinol. The ORs for 1-SD increase were 0.71 (95 % CI: 0.56-0.92; p=0.003) for total carotenoids and 0.75 (95 % CI: 0.60-0.94; p=0.008) for total tocopherols. Conclusions: These results show that higher serum concentrations of some carotenoids and tocopherols are associated with a lower risk of cervical cancer among Chinese women.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.464-473
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• 2009

The serum levels of antioxidant materials (${\alpha}$-carotene, ${\beta}$-carotene, ${\beta}$-cryptoxanthin, lutein, lycopene, ${\alpha}$-tocopherol, ${\gamma}$-tocopherol, retinol) of the healthy Korean middle-aged adults (n = 373) were measured and their relationships with the serum lipids and anthropometric indices were analyzed. The serum levels of ${\beta}$-cryptoxanthin, ${\beta}$-carotene, lutein were higher than those of lycopene and ${\alpha}$-carotene. The levels of all measured carotenoids except lutein were significantly higher in females than in males, but retinol level was vice versa. There was a tendency of increase in serum levels of antioxidant vitamins with increasing age. The serum carotenoid levels had a positive correlation with serum cholesterol and a negative correlation with serum triglyceride. The serum levels of tocopherols or retinol showed a significantly positive relationship with blood cholesterol or triglyceride. In overall, anthropometric indices showed negative relations with serum carotenoids levels, but vice versa with serum tocopherol or retinol levels. Particularly, ${\beta}$-carotene and lutein levels showed a significantly negative relation with blood pressure in male subjects. The serum levels of ${\alpha}$-carotene, ${\beta}$-carotene and ${\beta}$-cryptoxanthin had significantly negative relations with body fat-related indices in female subjects. The results demonstrated that blood antioxidants levels differed by sex and age, and had significant relations with blood lipid levels and anthropometric indices. Therefore, the rationale and significance of the relationships need to be elucidated in the future study related to dietary intakes and life style.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.952-959
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• 1997

Korean intakes of Vitamin A have not reached RDA for a long time according to the National Nutrition Survey. The pupose of this study was to examine the serum response to short-term carotenoids-rich vegetable juices supplementation. A total of 31 female students were recruited for this study. Their average serum retinol content before supplementation began was 14.74$\mu\textrm{g}$/100ml, and 87% of them had lower than adequate levels. Serum $\beta$-carotene, $\alpha$-carotene, lycopene and lutein contents were 0.77, -, 0.74 and 8.29$\mu\textrm{g}$/100$m\ell$ respectively. The serum responses to 3 kinds of juice supplementation for 3 weeks are summarized as follows. A small but steady increase in serum retinol concentration was detected with the supplementation (p<.05), but the kinds of juice made no significant difference. Serum $\beta$-carotene contents also increased with the supplementation(p<.01), but the kinds of juice again made no significant difference. Serum lycopene increased with the lycopene-containing vegetable juice and tomato juice supplementation, but the increase wasn't significant. There was no change in serum lycopene levels with the lycopene free carrot juice supplementation. Finally, there were no signifnicant changes in serum lutein and $\alpha$-carotene levels with the 3 kinds of juice supplementation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8183-8189
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• 2014

Background: A comparative cross-sectional study involving oral cancer patients and healthy individuals was designed to investigate associations between retinol, ${\alpha}$-tocopherol and ${\beta}$-carotene with the risk of oral cancer. Materials and Methods: This study included a total of 240 matched cases and controls where subjects were selected from the Malaysian Oral Cancer Database and Tissue Bank System (MOCDTBS). Retinol, ${\alpha}$-tocopherol and ${\beta}$-carotene levels and intake were examined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) respectively. Results: It was found that results from the two methods applied did not correlate, so that further analysis was done using the HPLC method utilising blood serum. Serum levels of retinol and ${\alpha}$-tocopherol among cases ($0.177{\pm}0.081$, $1.649{\pm}1.670{\mu}g/ml$) were significantly lower than in controls ($0.264{\pm}0.137$, $3.225{\pm}2.054{\mu}g/ml$) (p<0.005). Although serum level of ${\beta}$-carotene among cases ($0.106{\pm}0.159{\mu}g/ml$) were lower compared to controls ($0.134{\pm}0.131{\mu}g/ml$), statistical significance was not observed. Logistic regression analysis showed that high serum level of retinol (OR=0.501, 95% CI=0.254-0.992, p<0.05) and ${\alpha}$-tocopherol (OR=0.184, 95% CI=0.091-0.370, p<0.05) was significantly related to lower risk of oral cancer, whereas no relationship was observed between ${\beta}$-carotene and oral cancer risk. Conclusions: High serum levels of retinol and ${\alpha}$-tocopherol confer protection against oral cancer risk.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 1998

Five hundred and seventy-eight healthy subjects (351 men and 227 women) with a mean age of 44.8 years (45.2 for men, 44.3 for women) participated in this study. The serum concentrations of $\alpha$-tocopherol, \beta$-carotene, $\alpha$-carotene, zeaxanthin + lutein, cryptoxanthin, lycopene and retinol of normal Koreans were measured, and their relation to gender, age, BMI, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and menopausal status were evaluated. The concentrations of $\alpha$-tocopherol, carotenoids and retinol in serum were measured simultaneously by reverse phase HPLC (multi-wavelength, gradient and computerized automatic system). Average serum levels of $\alpha$-tocopherol, \beta$-carotene and retinol were 10.1$\pm$0.41\mu$g/dl, 33.1$\pm$1.24\mu$g/dl, and 82.0$\pm$1.63\mu$g/dl for men and 11.1$\pm$0.74\mu$g/ml, 48.1$\pm$1.60\mu$g/dl and 64.5$\pm$1.96\mu$g/dl for women, respectively, Serum concentrations of $\alpha$-tocopheol \beta$-carotene, $\alpha$-carotene, cryptoxanthin and lycopene appeared to be higher in women than in men. The serum concentrations of zeaxanthin + lutein increased with the increase in age of men and those of $\alpha$-carotene and \beta$-carotene increased with the increase in age of women. For men, current smokers showed significantly lower serum concentrations of \beta$-carotene and $\alpha$-carotene than ex-smokers (p <0.05) . Current drinkers also showed significantly lower serum \beta$-carotene and zeaxanthin + lutein concentrations than ex-drinkers. For women, current smokers showed significantly love. serum concentrations of zeaxanthin+lutein and cryptoxanthin than ex-smokes (p<0.05). Men with BMI$\geq$24 showed significantly lower serum concentrations of \beta$-carotene, $\alpha$-carotene, lycopene and cryptoxanthin than men with BMI < 20. The mean concentrations of $\alpha$-tocopherol, \beta$-carotene, $\alpha$-carotene and lycopene far postmenopausal women were higher than those for premenopausal women (p<0.05). In conclusion, there were obvious differences in serum $\alpha$-tocopherol and carotenoids levels depending on gender, age, cigarette-smoking habits, alcohol consumption, BMI and menopausal status. further studies are required to establish the normal levels of these vitamins for children and the elderly and to elucidate their roles in different disease states.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.671-677
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• 2001

The purposes of this study are to evaluate nutritional status and dietary intake of vitamin A in 5th and 6th grade primary school children in Chungbuk. Also the relationships between nutritional status and factors relevant to dietary intake of vitamin A were examined. For the study, total 180 children in urban area of Chongju city(37 boys and 40 girls) and rural area of Eumsong gun(56 boys and 47 girls) were recruited. For the assessment of dietary nutrients intake including vitamin A, 1-day, 24-hr recall method was applied. And serum retinol contents were analyzed by HPLC to diagnose the nutritional status of vitamin A. The average of daily vitamin A intake was 490R.E., 81.8% of RDA. Vitamin A intake of urban was higher than that of rural children(p < 0.001). Of the total dietary vitamin A intake, only 25.8% came from animal retinol, means that children still heavily depend on plant carotenoids as vitamin A floods. The average serum retinol concentration of total 180 children was 37.2$\mu\textrm{g}$/100ml. Serum retinol concentration of urban children was 37.3$\mu\textrm{g}$/100m1, significantly higher than rural children of 35.6$\mu\textrm{g}$/100m1(p < 0.05). According to the biochemical criteria, no one was in critical vitamin A nutritional status. Because of relatively large day-to-day vitamin A intake, 1-day, 24-hr recall method may not be the proper way to assess the usual intake of vitamin A. In conclusion , to diagnose the nutritional status of vitamin A by dietary survey, it is necessary to develop new survey technique which measure the dietary habit of the people.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.57-61
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• 1999

It has been postulated that oxidative stress may be increased and antioxidant defenses reduced in diabetes patients. Twenty-four patients with type 1 diabetes melitus (DM) (12.8$\pm$1.7 years) and 24 nondiabetics (12.5$\pm$2.1 years) were included in this study. Serum total cholesterol and LDL -cholesterol levels were significantly higher in diabetic than in nondiabetic control subjects, but serum levels of triglyceride , retinol , tocopherol, and $\beta$-carotene were significantly lower. Both $\beta$carotene and tocopherol levels inversely correlated with HbAlc, suggesting perhaps that low serum antioxidant level enhance theglycosylation of hemoglobin. Subjects with type 1 DM had lipid peroxide levels similar to those of nondiabetics control subjects, suggesting that per-oxdation of circulating lipid is not increased in uncomplicated diabeteics. The correlation between antioxidants and serum lipids were as follows ; retinol and LDL (r--0.36, p=0.019) ; retinol and total cholesterol(r=-0.35, p=0.020), tocopherol and LDL(r=-0.47, p=0.002) ; tocopherol and cholesterol (r=-0.49, p=0.001) ; $\beta$-carotene and LDL (r=-0.51, p=0.001). Overall , the results of this study were that serum lipid peroxide in patients with type 1 DM was similar to those of control subjects and antioxidants such as retinol, tocopherol and $\beta$-carotene were lower than those of nondiabetic cotnrol subjects, and negatively correlated with serum total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.492-500
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• 1999

The aim of this study was to assess the association between total vitamin A, retinol and carotene intakes and serum concentration of total carotenoids in Korean male smokers and nonsmokers. Food frequency and nutrient intakes of 64 healthy college students were estimated by the 24 hour recall method and food frequency questionnaire and analyzed by smoking status. Serum total cartenoids and lipid profiles were measured in 28 smokers and 36 nonsmokers. The mean total vitamin A, retinol and carotene intakes of smokers were not significantly different from nonsmokers. However, carotene intakes of the smokers who have smoked more than 5 packyears were significantly lower than those of nonsmokers. Smokers consumed green yellow leafy vegetables more often(P=0.005) and fresh fruits less often(P=0.017) than nonsmokers. The serum total carotenoids of smokers consuming the same amount of retinol and carotene as nonsmokers, 1.79 g/ml, were 17% lower than nonsmokers, 2.15 g/ml(P<0.05). The lipid profiles including total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol and triglycerides of smokers were not significantly different from nonsmokers, however, the concentration of HDL cholesterol of smokers were significantly higher than that of nonsmokers. The serum carotenoids concentration was positively associated with fruit consumption frequency in smokers, and also was positively associated with green yellow leafy vegetable consumption frequency in non smokers. There were no correlations between dietary and serum carotenoids for smokers as well as nonsmokers. It was concluded that smoking could be inversely related to the serum concentration of carotenoids at constant carotene intakes and smokers might require more carotene to reach the same concentration comparable to nonsmokers.