Plasma levels of six carotenoids in nine European countries: report from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).
Wael K Al-Delaimy
,
Anne Linda van Kappel
,
Pietro Ferrari
(1, 2)
,
Nadia Slimani
(1, 2, 3)
,
Jean-Paul Steghens
(4, 5)
,
Sheila A. Bingham
(6)
,
Ingegerd Johansson
(7, 8)
,
Peter Wallström
,
Kim Overvad
(9, 10)
,
Anne Tjønneland
(11, 12)
,
Tim J Key
(13, 14)
,
Ailsa A Welch
,
H Bas Bueno-De-Mesquita
(15, 16)
,
Petra H M Peeters
(17, 18)
,
Heiner Boeing
(19)
,
Jakob Linseisen
(20)
,
Françoise Clavel-Chapelon
(21, 22, 23)
,
Catherine Guibout
(22, 24)
,
Carmen Navarro
(25, 26, 27)
,
Jose Ramón Quirós
(28)
,
Domenico Palli
(29)
,
Egidio Celentano
,
Antonia Trichopoulou
(30, 31)
,
Vassiliki Benetou
,
Rudolf Kaaks
(1, 2, 3, 32)
,
Elio Riboli
(1, 2, 33)
1
Unit of Nutrition and Cancer
2 Unit of Nutrition, Environment, and Cancer
3 IACR - International Agency for Cancer Research
4 Hôpital Edouard Herriot [CHU - HCL]
5 ICBMS - Institut de Chimie et Biochimie Moléculaires et Supramoléculaires
6 Nutrition Unit
7 Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biophysics, IBLS Plant Sciences
8 Department of Plant Biochemistry
9 Department of Cardiology and Department of Clinical Epidemiology
10 Department of Clinical Epidemiology
11 Institute og Cancer Epidemiology
12 Institute of Cancer Epidemiology
13 Radcliffe Infirmary
14 Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit
15 RIVM - National Institute for Public Health and the Environment [Bilthoven]
16 Center for Nutrition and Health
17 Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care
18 Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care
19 DifE - Deutsches Institut für Ernährungsforschung Potsdam-Rehbrücke
20 Division of Clinical Epidemiology
21 E3N - Nutrition, hormones et cancer: épidémiologie et prévention
22 Epidémiologie des cancers
23 Epidémiologie des cancers
24 Epidémiologie des cancers : Radiocarcinogénèse et effets iatrogènes des traitements
25 Departamento de Biología Animal
26 IBDM - Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille
27 Epidemiology Department
28 Public Health and Health Planning Directorate
29 Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit
30 University of Athens Medical School [Athens]
31 Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology
32 Unit of nutritional cancer
33 Nutrition and Hormone Group
2 Unit of Nutrition, Environment, and Cancer
3 IACR - International Agency for Cancer Research
4 Hôpital Edouard Herriot [CHU - HCL]
5 ICBMS - Institut de Chimie et Biochimie Moléculaires et Supramoléculaires
6 Nutrition Unit
7 Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biophysics, IBLS Plant Sciences
8 Department of Plant Biochemistry
9 Department of Cardiology and Department of Clinical Epidemiology
10 Department of Clinical Epidemiology
11 Institute og Cancer Epidemiology
12 Institute of Cancer Epidemiology
13 Radcliffe Infirmary
14 Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit
15 RIVM - National Institute for Public Health and the Environment [Bilthoven]
16 Center for Nutrition and Health
17 Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care
18 Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care
19 DifE - Deutsches Institut für Ernährungsforschung Potsdam-Rehbrücke
20 Division of Clinical Epidemiology
21 E3N - Nutrition, hormones et cancer: épidémiologie et prévention
22 Epidémiologie des cancers
23 Epidémiologie des cancers
24 Epidémiologie des cancers : Radiocarcinogénèse et effets iatrogènes des traitements
25 Departamento de Biología Animal
26 IBDM - Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille
27 Epidemiology Department
28 Public Health and Health Planning Directorate
29 Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit
30 University of Athens Medical School [Athens]
31 Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology
32 Unit of nutritional cancer
33 Nutrition and Hormone Group
Wael K Al-Delaimy
- Fonction : Auteur
Anne Linda van Kappel
- Fonction : Auteur
Peter Wallström
- Fonction : Auteur
Anne Tjønneland
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 757260
- ORCID : 0000-0003-4385-2097
Ailsa A Welch
- Fonction : Auteur
Egidio Celentano
- Fonction : Auteur
Vassiliki Benetou
- Fonction : Auteur
Elio Riboli
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 757264
- ORCID : 0000-0001-6795-6080
- IdRef : 030854032
Résumé
BACKGROUND: In addition to their possible direct biological effects, plasma carotenoids can be used as biochemical markers of fruit and vegetable consumption for identifying diet-disease associations in epidemiological studies. Few studies have compared levels of these carotenoids between countries in Europe. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to assess the variability of plasma carotenoid levels within the cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). METHODS: Plasma levels of six carotenoids--alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin--were measured cross-sectionally in 3043 study subjects from 16 regions in nine European countries. We investigated the relative influence of gender, season, age, body mass index (BMI), alcohol intake and smoking status on plasma levels of the carotenoids. RESULTS: Mean plasma level of the sum of the six carotenoids varied twofold between regions (1.35 micromol l(-1) for men in Malm?weden vs. 2.79 micromol l(-1) for men in Ragusa/Naples, Italy; 1.61 micromol l(-1) for women in The Netherlands vs. 3.52 micromol l(-1) in Ragusa/Naples, Italy). Mean levels of individual carotenoids varied up to fourfold (alpha-carotene: 0.06 micromol l(-1) for men in Murcia, Spain vs. 0.25 micromol l(-1) for vegetarian men living in the UK). In multivariate regression analyses, region was the most important predictor of total plasma carotenoid level (partial R(2)=27.3%), followed by BMI (partial R(2)=5.2%), gender (partial R(2)=2.7%) and smoking status (partial R(2)=2.8%). Females had higher total carotenoid levels than males across Europe. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma levels of carotenoids vary substantially between 16 different regions in Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands. Compared with region of residence, the other demographic and lifestyle factors and laboratory measurements have limited predictive value for plasma carotenoid levels in Europe.