Abstract
Serum retinol and tocopherol concentrations in 419 males and 478 females, aged 10 to 49 years, were determined by an HPLC method. Then their relationships to serum lipid concentrations and smoking and drinking habits were examined. Retinol levels were higher in males than in females but tocopherol showed little difference by sex. The sex differences in age-related serum levels of retinol and triglyceride (TG) were similar to those of tocopherol and total cholesterol (TC), respectively.
Retinol had a significant correlation with TC and TG, with coefficients of 0.20-0.29 (p<0.001). These were smaller than those of tocopherol (R=0.32-0.52, p<0.001) both in males and females, suggesting that it had a higher susceptibility to factors other than serum lipids than tocopherol did.
Both the retinol and tocopherol levels were significantly higher in the groups with smoking and drinking habits than in the groups without them among the males aged 30 years and over. Furthermore, the retinol level was positively dependent on the daily consumption of both cigarettes and alcohol, whereas tocopherol was dependent on the consumption of alcohol. Multiple regression analysis showed that smoking and drinking habits had statistically significant effects on the serum retinol level independent of other factors and that their effects were greater than those of TC and TG. Tocopherol was affected most by TC and TG and then by drinking habit. Less significant but similar results were obtained for the females of the same age group.
Since smoking and drinking habits, known to be carcinogenic, was related to increases in the serum levels of retinol and tocopherol, it would appear to be necessary to study the relationship of these serum levels with tissue levels of vitamins A and E to examine their protective effects against carcino- and atherogenesis.
