Low serum lycopene concentration is associated with an excess incidence of acute coronary events and stroke: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

• Published in: British journal of nutrition Vol. 85; no. 6; pp. 749 - 754
• Main Authors: Rissanen, Tiina H., Voutilainen, Sari, Nyyssönen, Kristiina, Lakka, Timo A., Sivenius, Juhani, Salonen, Riitta, Kaplan, George A., Salonen, Jukka T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.06.2001
• Subjects: Adult; Antioxidants - analysis; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - blood; Blood pressure; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Carotenoids; Carotenoids - blood; Coronary Disease - blood; Coronary Disease - epidemiology; Coronary Disease - etiology; Coronary event; Coronary heart disease; Finland - epidemiology; Follow-Up Studies; Health risks; Heart; Humans; Hypotheses; Ischemia; Lycopene; Male; Medical sciences; Middle age; Middle Aged; Neurology; Nutrition research; Plasma; Proportional Hazards Models; Prospective Studies; Public health; Risk Factors; Stroke; Stroke - blood; Stroke - etiology; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system; Vitamin C; Europe; Finland; United States > US; Stroke; Lycopene; Coronary event; Human; Nervous system diseases; Middle age; Cardiovascular disease; Coronary heart disease; Epidemiology; Cerebral disorder; Blood plasma; Vascular disease; Central nervous system disease; Risk factor; Cerebrovascular disease; Public health; Nutritional status; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1079/BJN2001357

A number of epidemiological studies have shown an association between β-carotene and the risk of cardiovascular diseases, whereas only a few studies are available concerning the association of lycopene with the risk of coronary events, and no studies have been undertaken concerning lycopene and stroke. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that low serum levels of lycopene are associated with increased risk of acute coronary events and stroke in middle-aged men previously free of CHD and stroke. The subjects were 725 men aged 46–64 years examined in 1991–3 in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Forty-one men had either a fatal or a non-fatal acute coronary event or a stroke by December 1997. In a Cox' proportional hazard's model adjusting for examination years, age, systolic blood pressure and three nutritional factors (serum folate, β-carotene and plasma vitamin C), men in the lowest quarter of serum lycopene levels (≤0·07 μmol/l) had a 3·3-fold (95 % CI 1.7, 6.4, P < 0·001) risk of acute coronary events or stroke compared with the others. Our study suggests that a low serum level of lycopene is associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic vascular events in middle-aged men previously free of CHD and stroke.