Nutritional Status of Antioxidant Vitamins (A, E, and Beta-Carotene) in Elderly Japanese

Abstract

Summary The nutritional status with respect to vitamins A and E, and beta-carotene was examined in elderly Japanese subjects in two institutions at Osaka and Kyoto. Only the plasma vitamin E level has been determined in the majority of previous investigations. In this study, vitamin E levels were determined in red blood cells (RBCs), platelets (PLT), mononuclear cells (MN), polymorphonuclear cells (PMN), and buccal mucosal cells (BMC), using HPLC with electroche mical detection. Alpha-tocopherol levels in plasma and RBCs did not differ between elderly and young adults, while those in PLT, MN, and BMC were lower in the elderly. Thus, the vitamin E status of elderly Japanese individuals appears to be inadequate of the cellular levels. The daily vitamin E intake of the elderly subjects was below the recommended dietary allowance for the Japanese population. Plasma levels of retinol and beta-carotene were also assessed. The vitamin A status did not differ between elderly and young adults on the basis of the levels of retinol and retinol-binding protein (RBP). The daily intake of retinol (as retinol equivalent) by the elderly subjects was more than 2,000IU. With respect to beta-carotene, there was a large sex difference (female>male), which was more prominent in the young adults and became smaller in the elderly. This sex difference was partly attributable to a difference in plasma total lipids. No clear age-related trend was noted.

Aging and oxidative stress

“…In some cases, the increase is limited to women (Ascherio et al, 1992) or to middle-aged subjects (Knert et al, 1988). Few studies found no effect of age (Morinobu et al, 1994: Alberti-Fidanza et al, 1995 or even a decrease in plasma a-tocopherol concentrations with age (Vatassery et al, 1983;Mino et al, 1993).…”

Postprandial chylomicron and plasma vitamin E responses in healthy older subjects compared with younger ones

“…Nevertheless, data on vitamin E status in older adults are inconclusive. Indeed, numerous studies [15][16][17][18][19][20] have shown an increase in the fasting plasma a-Toc upon ageing, whereas other studies [21,22] have found a reduction in the level of a-Toc in blood cells in the elderly. Thus, a better understanding of vitamin E metabolism in the elderly is required.…”

Comparison of the Postprandial Plasma Vitamin A Response in Young and Older Adults

“…Studies dedicated to the effect of aging on vitamin A metabolism have reported the following observations: (a) the human plasma retinol concentration remains stable (4)(5)(6)(7) or eventually increases (8)(9)(10) during aging; (b) the human liver concentration of vitamin A is maintained throughout life (11,12); (c) the intestinal absorption of vitamin A is apparently higher in aged rats than in young rats (13); (d) there is a higher plasma retinyl palmitate response to dietary vitamin A intake in elderly than in young subjects (8,(14)(15), suggesting an increased vitamin A intestinal absorption in the elderly; (e) no severe vitamin A-deficient status has been detected in healthy, wellnourished elderly subjects. On the whole, these observations suggest that older subjects utilize vitamin A as efficiently as younger ones.…”