Determinants of the nutritional status of vitamin E in a non-smoking Mediterranean population. Analysis of the effect of vitamin E intake, alcohol consumption and body mass index on the serum alpha-tocopherol concentration

Abstract

Objectives: Study was conducted in order to investigate the association of vitamin E intake and other factors with plasma α-tocopherol concentration in a non-smoking Mediterranean population.

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a subsample of a representative sample of the Catalan population.

Subjects: Sample size was 143 men and women, aged between 18 and 75 y, and final response rate reached 61.9% of the initial sample.

Interventions: Serum alpha-tocopherol concentration standardized by serum total lipids was used as a proxy of the nutritional status of vitamin E. Vitamin E intake and alcohol consumption were estimated by a replicated 24 h recall method. Dietary data were collected in two different periods, winter and summer, in order to account for seasonal variation in nutrient intake, and were corrected for random within-person variability in order to account for day-to-day variation in nutrient intake. Multivariate linear regression models were fitted in order to estimate the determinants of serum α-tocopherol concentration.

Results: In this population study, for each one mg increase in vitamin E intake, serum α-tocopherol concentration increased, on average, 0.66 micromol/L, after adjusting for age, gender, Body Mass Index (BMI), alcohol consumption and energy intake. BMI also influenced significantly serum α-tocopherol concentration, whereas alcohol intake, age and gender did not show significant associations with serum α-tocopherol.

Conclusions: The study showed that vitamin E nutritional status was associated to vitamin E intake and BMI in non-smokers.

Sponsorship: This study was supported by a research agreement between the Department of Health of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia and the Bosch Gimpera Foundation of the University of Barcelona (Contract 2415/95).