Plasma carotene and α-tocopherol in relation to 10-y all-cause and cause-specific mortality in European elderly : the Survey in Europe on Nutrition and the Elderly, a Concerted Action (SENECA)

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 82; no. 4; pp. 879 - 886
• Main Authors: BUIJSSE, Brian, FESKENS, Edith Jm, SCHLETTWEIN-GSELL, Daniela, FERRY, Monique, KOK, Frans J, KROMHOUT, Daan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD American Society for Clinical Nutrition 01.10.2005; American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc
• Subjects: Aged; Aging - blood; alpha-Tocopherol - blood; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - metabolism; beta Carotene - blood; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Cancer; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - mortality; Carotenoids - blood; Cause of Death; Cohort Studies; Confidence Intervals; Europe - epidemiology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health Status; Humans; Life Style; Male; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Mortality; Neoplasms - epidemiology; Neoplasms - mortality; Nutrition; Nutritional Status; Odds Ratio; Older people; Plasma; Proportional Hazards Models; Prospective Studies; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Europe; Human; Carotene; Nutrition survey; Mortality; Vitamin; Cardiovascular disease; α-Tocopherol; Malignant tumor; Antioxidant; European; Blood plasma; Antioxidants; Cohort study; cancer; Elderly
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/82.4.879

Only a few observational studies have related plasma carotene and alpha-tocopherol to mortality in elderly subjects. The objective was to study the association of plasma carotene (alpha-and beta-carotene) and alpha-tocopherol with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in elderly subjects who participated in a European prospective study. Plasma concentrations of carotene and alpha-tocopherol were measured in 1168 elderly men and women. After a follow-up period of 10 y, 388 persons had died. The association between plasma antioxidants and mortality was analyzed by using Cox proportional hazard models. To put our results in context, we performed a meta-analysis of 5 studies on plasma antioxidants and all-cause mortality in elderly populations. Plasma carotene concentrations were associated with a lower mortality risk [adjusted rate ratio (RR) for an increment of 0.39 micromol/L: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.89]. This lower mortality risk was observed for both cancer (RR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.44, 0.79) and cardiovascular disease (RR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.70, 1.00). The lower risk of cardiovascular death was confined to those with a body mass index (in kg/m2) <25 (RR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.49, 0.94). Plasma concentrations of alpha-tocopherol were not associated with all-cause or cause-specific mortality. The results for both plasma antioxidants and all-cause mortality were confirmed by the meta-analysis. This prospective study suggests that high plasma concentrations of carotene are associated both with lower mortality from all causes and with cancer in the elderly. For cardiovascular mortality, the inverse association was confined to elderly with body mass indexes <25.