Original contribution
Effects of a carotene-deficient diet on measures of oxidative susceptibility and superoxide dismutase activity in adult women

https://doi.org/10.1016/0891-5849(94)90093-0Get rights and content

Abstract

The effect of consuming a low carotene diet (≈60 μg carotene/day) on oxidative susceptibility and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in women living in a metabolic research unit was evaluated. The diet had sufficient vitamins A, E, and C. The women ate the diet supplemented with 1500 μg/day β-carotene for 4 days (baseline), then the unsupplemented diet for 68 days (depletion), followed by the diet supplemented with > 15,000 μg/day carotene for 28 days (repletion). Production of hexanal, pentanal, and pentane by copper-oxidased plasma low density lipoproteins from carotene-depleted women was greater than their production of these compounds when repleted with carotene. Erythrocyte SOD activity was depressed in carotene-depleted women; it recovered with repletion. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in plasma of carotene-depleted women were elevated and diminished with repletion. Dietary carotene seems to be needed, not only as a precursor of vitamin A, but also to inhibit oxidative damage and decrease oxidation susceptibility.

References (38)

  • A.L. Sowell et al.

    Identification of cis-carotenoids in human sera analyzed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection

    J. Chromatog. Biomed. Applicat.

    (1988)
  • R.G. Ziegler

    Vegetables, fruits and carotenoids and the risk of cancer

    Am. J. Clin. Nutr.

    (1991)
  • Y. Sun

    Free radicals, antioxidant enzymes and carcinogenesis

    Free Radic. Biol. Med.

    (1990)
  • P. Lachance

    Dietary intake of carotenes and the carotene gap

    Clin. Nutr.

    (1988)
  • L.M. Canfield et al.

    Carotenoids as cellular antioxidants

  • G.W. Burton et al.

    β-carotene: An unusual type of lipid antioxidant

    Science

    (1984)
  • N.I. Krinsky

    Evidence for the role of carotenes in preventive health

    Clin. Nutr.

    (1988)
  • N.I. Krinsky et al.

    The interaction of oxygen and oxy-radicals with carotenoids

    J. Natl. Cancer Inst.

    (1982)
  • K.J. Kunert et al.

    The effect of vitamin C on in vivo lipid peroxidation in guinea pigs as measured by pentane and ethane production

    Lipids

    (1983)
  • Cited by (56)

    • Carotenoids

      2003, Clinical Guide to Nutrition & Dietary Supplements in Disease Management
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    1

    Current affiliation: Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, Florida International University, Miami, FL.

    2

    Current affiliation: Campbell Soup Co., Camden, NJ.

    View full text