Diet, antioxidant status, and smoking habits in French men

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the association between smoking, food consumption, and antioxidant vitamin intake and plasma indexes of oxidative stress and antioxidant defenses in French adults. Food and nutrient intakes of 459 healthy men aged 23-57 y were estimated by the diet history method and analyzed by smoking status. Plasma alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, and carotenoids were measured as antioxidants and malondialdehyde, protein Schiff bases, and autoantibodies against malondialdehyde-protein adducts as oxidative stress indexes. Smokers ate less fruit and vegetables than nonsmokers, leading to lower vitamin E, vitamin C, and carotene intakes, even after adjustment for age, education, and marital status. Unlike vitamin E, plasma ascorbic acid and beta-carotene concentrations were reduced in smokers compared with nonsmokers and were inversely related to cigarette consumption. This difference remained significant after adjustment for alcohol and dietary intakes. Among the measured oxidative stress indexes, only Schiff base concentration was positively related to the number of cigarettes smoked. In our sample of French men, smoking had an adverse effect on antioxidant status; vitamin intakes were reduced in smokers and plasma antioxidant indexes were altered independently of dietary intakes. As in other countries, in France smokers require particular attention in terms of public health intervention.

Serum concentrations of β-carotene, vitamins C and E, zinc and selenium are influenced by sex, age, diet, smoking status, alcohol consumption and corpulence in a general French adult population

“…Lower plasma ascorbic acid concentrations have been described in smokers than in nonsmokers of both sexes (Schectman et al, 1989;Mezzeti et al, 1995;Ross et al, 1995;Marangon et al, 1998;Lykkesfeldt et al, 2000;Wei et al, 2001;Dietrich et al, 2003). Smokers had also lower plasma b-carotene concentrations than did the nonsmokers (Byers & Guerrero, 1995;Stryker et al, 1988;Nierenberg et al, 1991;Marangon et al, 1998;Dietrich et al, 2003).…”

“…Lower plasma ascorbic acid concentrations have been described in smokers than in nonsmokers of both sexes (Schectman et al, 1989;Mezzeti et al, 1995;Ross et al, 1995;Marangon et al, 1998;Lykkesfeldt et al, 2000;Wei et al, 2001;Dietrich et al, 2003). Smokers had also lower plasma b-carotene concentrations than did the nonsmokers (Byers & Guerrero, 1995;Stryker et al, 1988;Nierenberg et al, 1991;Marangon et al, 1998;Dietrich et al, 2003). The abundance of free radicals in, or produced by, cigarette smoke may induce an oxidative stress on both the respiratory and circulatory systems (Pryor & Stone, 1993;Eiserich et al, 1995), and the lower levels of antioxidants found in smokers may partly be a consequence of a greater antioxidant depletion due to a sustained smoke-related oxidant load (Mezzeti et al, 1995).…”

“…Our study revealed a negative relationship with serum a-tocopherol only in women. Evidence of an association between tobacco smoking and vitamin E status is controversial (Stryker et al, 1988;Schectman et al, 1989;Mezzeti et al, 1995;Ross et al, 1995;Marangon et al, 1998;Wei et al, 2001). In smokers, we observed a lower serum selenium level than in nonsmokers.…”

“…Wei et al (2001) in the analysis of the NHANES III data also showed that smokers had significantly lower serum levels of those nutrients than nonsmokers of both sexes, and that this difference persisted after adjustment for factors that independently affected plasma ascorbic acid concentrations such as alcohol and intake of vitamins. Studies of active smoking (Schectman et al, 1989;Pelletier, 1997;Marangon et al, 1998;Wei et al, 2001;Alberg, 2002) and serum or plasma vitamin C concentrations after adjusting for vitamin C intake (Strauss, 1999;Farchi et al, 2001;Wei et al, 2001;Alberg, 2002) or fruit and vegetable intakes (Drewnowski et al, 1997;Alberg, 2002) have shown significantly lower vitamin C concentrations in smokers compared with nonsmokers. This observation suggests that smoking directly lowers plasma vitamin C concentrations by mechanisms that do not depend on dietary vitamin C intake, such an impaired vitamin C absorption (Pelletier, 1997) or increased turnover (Kallner et al, 1981;Tribble et al, 1993).…”

Time lines and computer-based visual editing: new techniques for assessing exposure in epidemiologic studies

“…Exposures that precede the onset of disease are routinely evaluated with retrospectively administered interviews or questionnaires, as evidenced by epidemiologic studies that Ž evaluate exposures with dietary histories Goodman et al, . 1997;Slattery et al, 1997;Marangon et al, 1998 , smok-Ž ing histories Doll and Hill, 1950;Hirayama, 1981;Tri-. chopoulos et al, 1981 , dose reconstruction for exposure to Ž ionizing radiation Stevens et al, 1990;Kerber et al, .…”