Relationship between the Frequency of Food Intake and Serum Levels of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in Healthy Elderly Subjects

Abstract

We investigated whether the frequency of food intake was related to the serum levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1). The 92 subjects tested were healthy men and women from 40 to 79 years old. Each subject completed both baseline health-related questionnaires and questionnaires on the intake frequency of food in 1989, and offered blood samples to us at the same time. No subject suffered from cancer, cerebral apoplexy, diabetes mellitus, liver disease, or myocardial infarction during the follow-up period. The results of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) show that the serum level of sVCAM-1 had a significant negative correlation with the intake of kamaboko (p=0.004) and tomatoes (p=0.040). We did not find any relationship between the sICAM-1 level and frequency of food intake. In summary, a high intake frequency of kamaboko and tomatoes may decrease the serum level of sVCAM-1, one of the markers for vascular endothelial cell activation.