scholarly journals Lifestyle Behaviours and Plasma Vitamin C andβ-Carotene Levels from the ELAN Population (Liège, Belgium)

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joël Pincemail ◽  
Sophie Vanbelle ◽  
Fabien Degrune ◽  
Jean-Paul Cheramy-Bien ◽  
Corinne Charlier ◽  
...  

Several factors, including fruit and vegetables intakes, have been shown to significantly influence the plasma concentrations of the two antioxidants vitamin C and β-carotene. Deficiency levels of 6 mg/L (34.2 μM) for vitamin C and of 0.22 mg/L (0.4 μM) for β-carotene have been suggested below which cardiovascular risk might be increased. The present study performed on 897 presumably healthy subjects aged 40–60 years aimed to examine how modifiable lifestyle factors may be related to vitamin C and/or β-carotene deficiency. Gender, smoking, lack of regular physical activity and of daily fruit consumption (≥2/day), and social status (in particular, unemployment) were found to be significant risk factors for vitamin C deficiency. For β-carotene deficiency, the same factors were identified except social status; moreover, overweight and OC use in women were also found to have a deleterious effect. For non exposed subjects, the probability of developing vitamin C deficiency was 4% in men and 2.4% in women. This probability increased to 66.3% for men and to 44.3% for women (and even to 50.4% under OC use), when all risk factors were present. For β-carotene deficiency, the corresponding probabilities were equal to 29.7% in men and 13.7% in women (no risk factor present), and to 86.1% for men and 69.9% (91.6% for OC use) for women (all factors present), respectively.

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 977-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Vioque ◽  
Tanja Weinbrenner ◽  
Laura Asensio ◽  
Adela Castelló ◽  
Ian S. Young ◽  
...  

Carotenoid and vitamin C intakes, assessed by FFQ, have been positively associated with plasma concentrations in different populations. However, the influence of BMI on these associations has not been explored in detail. We explored in a cross-sectional study the relation between dietary carotenoid and vitamin C intakes, using a 135-item FFQ, with their plasma concentrations by BMI categories in 252 men and 293 women, 65 years and older. For men and women combined, significant (P < 0·05) Pearson correlations were observed between energy-adjusted dietary intakes and plasma concentrations (carotenoids adjusted for cholesterol) for: α-carotene 0·21, β-carotene 0·19, lycopene 0·18, β-cryptoxanthin 0·20 and vitamin C 0·36. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that the intake of carotenoids and vitamin C were significant predictors of their respective plasma concentration (P < 0·01), and that BMI was inversely associated with plasma concentration of carotenoids (P ≤ 0·01) but not with plasma vitamin C. In addition, we observed significant interactions between BMI and the intakes of α-carotene and lutein + zeaxanthin, and to a lower extent β-carotene, suggesting that these intakes in subjects with high BMI were not good predictors of their plasma concentration. The present data suggest that plasma carotenoids and vitamin C may be good markers of dietary intake in elderly subjects, but not so for α-carotene, β-carotene and lutein + zeaxanthin in obese subjects.


Author(s):  
Sebastian Dams ◽  
Sandra Holasek ◽  
Melina Tsiountsioura ◽  
Daniela-Eugenia Malliga ◽  
Nathalie Meier-Allard ◽  
...  

Abstract. Vitamins and carotenoids are organic compounds that are important for vital functions of the human organism. Since the human body is not able to synthesize most of these micronutrients, they need to be supplied by the intake of food or supplements. The aim of this study was to analyze whether a whole food based, encapsulated fruit, berry, and vegetable juice powder concentrate provides bioavailable carotenoids and vitamins A (all-trans retinol), E and C. Eighteen healthy subjects received 6 capsules a day for 8 weeks, which provided 2.91 mg β-carotene, 490 μg vitamin A, 18.7 mg vitamin E, 159 mg vitamin C, 6.1 mg lutein and 1 mg lycopene. Plasma concentrations of several carotenoids and vitamins before and after supplementation were measured. After 8 weeks of supplementation, the plasma concentration of the following carotenoids increased significantly: α-carotene increased from 59.6 ± 22.4 nmol/L to 85.7 ± 24.2 nmol/L (p = 0.002), β-cryptoxanthin from 106.7 ± 39.8 nmol/L to 151.9 ± 57.9 nmol/L (p = 0.017), and lycopene from 1.2 ± 0.5 μmol/L to 1.7 ± 0.5 μmol/L (p = 0.005). Significant increases were also observed for plasma concentrations of vitamin C from 70 ± 20 μmol/L to 90 ± 10 μmol/L (p < 0.001), all-trans retinol from 1.99 ± 0.24 μmol/L to 2.30 ± 0.66 μmol/L (p = 0.015), and α-tocopherol from 27 ± 6 μmol/L to 32 ± 6 μmol/L (p = 0.008). For those micronutrients with accepted plasma reference ranges, all observed increases levelled off around the upper limit of the individual reference range. The data demonstrate that the investigated supplement is able to increase plasma concentrations of certain carotenoids and vitamins of healthy subjects within 8 weeks.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. McCall ◽  
Allan B. Clark ◽  
Robert N. Luben ◽  
Nicholas J. Wareham ◽  
Kay-Tee Khaw ◽  
...  

Background: To investigate the demographic and lifestyles factors associated with vitamin C deficiency and to examine the association between plasma vitamin C level and self-reported physical functional health. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study using the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk study. Plasma vitamin C level < 11 µmol/L indicated vitamin C deficiency. Unconditional logistic regression models assessed the association between vitamin C deficiency and potential risk factors. Associations between quartiles of vitamin C and self-reported functional health measured by the 36-item short-form questionnaire (SF-36) were assessed. Results: After adjustment, vitamin C deficiency was associated with older age, being male, lower physical activity, smoking, more socially deprived area (Townsend index) and a lower educational attainment. Compared to the highest, those in the lowest quartile of vitamin C were more likely to score in the lowest decile of physical function (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.43 (95%CI: 1.21–1.70)), bodily pain (aOR: 1.29 (95% CI: 1.07–1.56)), general health (aOR: 1.4 (95%CI: 1.18–1.66)), and vitality (aOR: 1.23 (95%CI: 1.04–1.45)) SF-36 scores. Conclusions: Simple public health interventions should be aimed at populations with risk factors for vitamin C deficiency. Poor self-reported functional health was associated with lower plasma vitamin C levels, which may reflect symptoms of latent scurvy.


GYNECOLOGY ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 74-79
Author(s):  
Tamara N. Bebneva ◽  
Galina B. Dikke

Aim. To determine the risk factors for human papillomavirus of high carcinogenic risk (HPV HCR) and cervical diseases (CD) in pregnant women associated with the social status, reproductive and contraceptive behavior. Materials and methods. Design: open-label comparative non-interventional cohort study in parallel groups. The total number of patients 330 people, of whom 148 women were negative for HPV and 182 women were positive. They were divided into 4 groups depending on the presence or absence of CD. Methods: analysis of anamnesis data, general clinical, test Kvant-21 to determine HPV, cytological examination, extended colposcopy. Results. The most significant risk factors for HPV HRS infection were identified: history of mycoplasma infection (OR 5.9) and BV (OR 5.3), alcohol consumption (OR 4.0). A history of STIs (trichomoniasis and chlamydial infection), as well as more than 3 sexual partners (OR 2.7) were also significant. The most significant risk factors for CD in HPV-infected women were: age over 35 years (OR 3.8), a history of bacterial vaginosis (OR 3.0), and lack of regular screening (OR 2.4). The coitarche earlier than 16 years old (OR 2.2) also mattered. There were also found factors indicating a low risk of HPV infection the use of condoms (OR 0.3), and a low risk of CD was indicated by age under 25 years (OR 0.2) and regular screening (OR 0.3). Conclusion. HPV infection with HRS and the prevalence of CMC in pregnant women against the background of HPV infection is associated mainly with social risk factors, to a lesser extent with factors of reproductive and contraceptive behavior.


1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin H. van het Hof ◽  
Lilian B. M. Tijburg ◽  
K. Pietrzik ◽  
Jan A. Weststrate

Carotenoids, folate and vitamin C may contribute to the observed beneficial effects of increased vegetable intake. Currently, knowledge on the bioavailability of these compounds from vegetables is limited. We compared the efficacy of different vegetables, at the same level of intake (i.e. 300 g/d), in increasing plasma levels of carotenoids, folate and vitamin C and we investigated if disruption of the vegetable matrix would enhance the bioavailability of these micronutrients. In an incomplete block design, sixty-nine volunteers consumed a control meal without vegetables and three out of four vegetable meals (i.e. broccoli, green peas, whole leaf spinach, chopped spinach; containing between 1·7 and 24·6 mg β-carotene, 3·8 and 26 mg lutein, 0·22 and 0·60 mg folate and 26 and 93 mg vitamin C) or a meal supplemented with synthetic β-carotene (33·3 mg). Meals were consumed for 4 d and fasting blood samples were taken at the end of each period. Consumption of the spinach-supplemented meal did not affect plasma levels of β-carotene, although the β-carotene content was 10-fold those of broccoli and green peas, which induced significant increases in plasma β-carotene levels (28 (95 % CI 6·4, 55) % and 26 (95 % CI 2·6, 54) % respectively). The β-carotene-supplemented meal increased plasma concentrations of β-carotene effectively (517 (95 % CI 409, 648) %). All vegetable meals increased the plasma concentrations of lutein and vitamin C significantly. Broccoli and green peas were, when expressed per mg carotenoid consumed, also more effective sources of lutein than spinach. A significant increase in plasma folate concentration was found only after consumption of the spinach-supplemented meal, which provided the highest level of folate. Disruption of the spinach matrix increased the plasma responses to both lutein (14 (95 % CI 3·7, 25) %) and folate (10 (95 % CI 2·2, 18) %), whereas it did not affect the response to β-carotene. We conclude that the bioavailabilities of β-carotene and lutein vary substantially among different vegetables and that the bioavailabilities of lutein and folate from spinach can be improved by disruption of the vegetable matrix.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linn Gillberg ◽  
Andreas D. Ørskov ◽  
Ammar Nasif ◽  
Hitoshi Ohtani ◽  
Zachary Madaj ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Patients with haematological malignancies are often vitamin C deficient, and vitamin C is essential for the TET-induced conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), the first step in active DNA demethylation. Here, we investigate whether oral vitamin C supplementation can correct vitamin C deficiency and affect the 5hmC/5mC ratio in patients with myeloid cancers treated with DNA methyltransferase inhibitors (DNMTis). Results We conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot trial (NCT02877277) in Danish patients with myeloid cancers performed during 3 cycles of DNMTi-treatment (5-azacytidine, 100 mg/m2/d for 5 days in 28-day cycles) supplemented by oral dose of 500 mg vitamin C (n = 10) or placebo (n = 10) daily during the last 2 cycles. Fourteen patients (70%) were deficient in plasma vitamin C (< 23 μM) and four of the remaining six patients were taking vitamin supplements at inclusion. Global DNA methylation was significantly higher in patients with severe vitamin C deficiency (< 11.4 μM; 4.997 vs 4.656% 5mC relative to deoxyguanosine, 95% CI [0.126, 0.556], P = 0.004). Oral supplementation restored plasma vitamin C levels to the normal range in all patients in the vitamin C arm (mean increase 34.85 ± 7.94 μM, P = 0.0004). We show for the first time that global 5hmC/5mC levels were significantly increased in mononuclear myeloid cells from patients receiving oral vitamin C compared to placebo (0.037% vs − 0.029%, 95% CI [− 0.129, − 0.003], P = 0.041). Conclusions Normalization of plasma vitamin C by oral supplementation leads to an increase in the 5hmC/5mC ratio compared to placebo-treated patients and may enhance the biological effects of DNMTis. The clinical efficacy of oral vitamin C supplementation to DNMTis should be investigated in a large randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02877277. Registered on 9 August 2016, retrospectively registered.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2384
Author(s):  
Li-Kai Wang ◽  
Yao-Tsung Lin ◽  
Kuo-Chuan Hung ◽  
Chia-Yu Chang ◽  
Zhi-Fu Wu ◽  
...  

Vitamin C deficiency increases the risk of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). In this cross-sectional study, the relationships among plasma vitamin C concentrations, pain and Leeds assessment of neuropathic symptoms and signs (LANSS) items were investigated during their first pain clinic visit of 120 PHN patients. The factors associated with vitamin C deficiency were determined. Independent predictors of vitamin C deficiency were presented as adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The patients had a high prevalence (52.5%) of vitamin C deficiency. Their plasma vitamin C concentrations were negatively associated with spontaneous pain and tingling, prickling or pins and needles sensation according to the LANSS questionnaire. Based on the receiver operator characteristic curve, the cutoffs for plasma vitamin C to predict moderate-to-severe and severe symptoms of sharp sensation were <7.05 and <5.68 mg/L, respectively. By comparison, the patients well-nourished with vitamin C had lower incidences of sharp sensations, sharp pain, and reddish skin. Multivariate analyses revealed that vitamin C deficiency was associated with the low intake of fruit/vegetables (AOR 2.66, 95% CI 1.09–6.48, p = 0.032), peptic ulcer disease (AOR 3.25, 95% CI 1.28–8.28, p = 0.014), and smoking (AOR 3.60, 95% CI 1.33–9.77, p = 0.010). Future studies are needed to substantiate these findings.


Stroke ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryukichi Matsui ◽  
Hiroaki Oguro ◽  
Nagai Atsushi ◽  
Hirokazu Bokura ◽  
Keiichi Onoda ◽  
...  

Background and purpose: Atherosclerotic stenosis of major intracranial arteries accounts for 5 to 10% of all causes of stroke. The Warfarin versus Aspirin Symptomatic Intracranial Disease (WASID) Study has demonstrated stroke onset in 5 among 100 patients with asymptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis (AIAS) during the follow-up period of 1.8 years. However, there are no prospective studies of intracranial stenosis in healthy subjects with a longer follow-up period. We conducted a 7-years longitudinal study in healthy subjects with AIAS to examine its risk factors and prognosis. Methods: We performed a prospective study on 3,155 neurologically normal subjects without history of stroke (1724 men, 1431 woman, mean age of 59). They were followed up with the mean interval of 83 months to obtain information about their stroke event with a questionnaire by mail or telephone interview and inquiry to the relevant medical facilities. AIAS were assessed on MRA at the time of first visit for all subjects. Result: AIAS was detected in 323 subjects (10.2%; AIAS group) at the initial examination. Significant risk factors for AIAS were older age, female, hypertension, high values of fasting blood glucose and HbA1c. During the follow-up stroke occurred in 77 subjects (2.7%) from the no-AIAS group and 14 subjects (4.3%) from the AIAS group (p = 0.07). Age and sex affected the stroke onset. The Cox's proportional-Hazards regression model after adjustment of age and sex revealed the significant contribution of AIAS on stroke onset (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.03-3.4, p = 0.039). The stroke types were 11 ischemic and 3 hemorrhagic in the AIAS group. Conclusions: AIAS is a significant risk factor for future stroke even in healthy subjects. Intense management of blood pressure and glucose level might be crucial for preventing asymptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic disease.


Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 1858-1858
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Sarantos ◽  
Patricia Evans ◽  
Maciej Garbowski ◽  
Bernard Davis ◽  
John B Porter

Abstract Background: Under conditions of iron overload, ascorbic acid is oxidised at an increased rate leading to a risk of vitamin C deficiency. With deferoxamine (DFO) standard therapy, vitamin C is usually given at a dose of 2–3mg/kg on the days of DFO infusion as this increases iron excretion by up to 30%. With deferarisox (DFX) chelation treatment, although supplementation is permitted, there is currently no information about the effects of vitamin C supplementation on iron excretion and it is often left to patients or their clinician’s discretion as to whether supplementation is given. With long-term treatment, in the absence of supplementation there is a potential risk that vitamin C deficiency will develop and this could influence response to treatment. Patients and Methods: We have measured fasting plasma vitamin C in 41 patients who have been on long term deferasirox treatment for transfusional iron overload for between 1.5 and 5 years. 32 of these patients had received no supplementation and 9 patients had received 2–3 mg/kg/ day of supplementation. We have examined whether trends in serum ferritin, myocardial T2* and liver iron, during the final year of observation, relate to plasma levels of vitamin C. Results: Fasting plasma Vitamin C was significantly lower in the 41 patients (mean=30.3μmol/l, SD=20.8) than healthy control patients (mean=60.29μmol/l SD=12.6) (P&lt;0.0001). Fasting vitamin C levels were significantly lower in patients without supplementation (mean=26.1μmol/l, n=32) (p=0.011) than in patients who received regular supplementation (mean=45.5μmol/l, n=9). In the 32 patients without supplementation 23 (72%) had plasma levels less than two standard deviations from the control mean. Fasting vitamin C levels after a minimum of 1 year treatment without vitamin C supplementation negatively correlated with liver iron concentration as estimated by T2* MRI. One patient, who was subsequently found to have the lowest fating vitamin c level (2.9μmol/l) developed clinical signs consistent with scurvy with severe gum disease requiring dental clearance. We found no difference in the change of ferritin trend, LIC decrease or cT2* trend in the patients receiving supplementation from those who did not. We found that the correlation between LIC and serum ferritin was less clear in deficient patients (&lt;36μmol/l or 2SD from the mean, r=0.51, p&lt;0.01) than replete patients (&gt;36μmol/l) (r=0.88, p&lt;0.0001). Conclusions: We conclude that with long-term deferasirox therapy without vitamin C supplementation, there is a significant risk of vitamin C deficiency with a potential for clinical scurvy. The risk of ascorbate deficiency is further increased at higher levels of body iron loading. These findings suggest that vitamin C supplementation (2–3mg/kg/day) should be recommended as standard for patients on long-term chelation therapy with deferasirox. It would also be of value to determine whether long term-response was improved by ascorbate supplementation.


1987 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. Mandal ◽  
A. K. Ray

A study of the plasma vitamin C concentration in patients in an assessment geriatric ward was carried out for 1 year. The incidence of vitamin C deficiency, as reflected by the plasma vitamin C level was 40.1%. There was almost no difference in its prevalence amongst the sexes or various age groups, but the incidence of vitamin C deficiency was highest in patients admitted from institutions. Furthermore, this study also revealed that patients with certain illnesses were more vulnerable to vitamin C deficiency than other patients and the standard hospital diet alone was not sufficient to improve the vitamin C status of these patients in the short-term.


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