Associations of Serum Retinol, α-Tocopherol, and γ-Tocopherol with Biomarkers among Healthy Japanese Men

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Yu Zou²  Da-Hong Wang²  Noriko Sakano¹  Yoshie Sato³  Suketaka Iwanaga⁴  Kazuhisa Taketa⁶  Masayuki Kubo²  Kei Takemoto²  Chie Masatomi²  Kiyomi Inoue⁵ 

[1] Department of Gerontology Research, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700-8558, Japan; E-Mail:;Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700-8558, Japan; E-Mails:;Graduate School of Health Sciences, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700-8558, Japan; E-Mail:;Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoye-cho Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; E-Mail:;Public Health Care Nursing, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kobe Tokiwa University, 2-6-2 Otani-cho, Kobe 653-0838, Japan; E-Mail:;Geriatric Health Service Facility, Niwanosato Home, Mihara, Hiroshima 729-1321, Japan; E-Mail:

关键词: serum retinol;    serum α-tocopherol;    serum γ-tocopherol;    HOMA-R;    serum ferritin;    smoking;    alcohol consumption;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph110201647

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Retinol, α-tocopherol, and γ-tocopherol are fat-soluble vitamins acting as antioxidants via the prevention of lipid oxidation. Little is known about circulatory levels in healthy individuals. The present cross-sectional study aimed at elucidating the relationship between these antioxidants and clinical biomarkers in 206 male (median age 41 years, range 23–67) employees from companies located in the Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Subjects younger than 40 years (n = 94) showed a positive association of the frequency of alcohol consumption with the circulating retinol (β = 0.344, p = 0.001) and γ-tocopherol levels (β = 0.219, p = 0.041), and an inverse association of fast insulin with serum retinol (β = −0.301, p = 0.009). In participants older than 40 years (n = 112) we found that an inverse association of HOMA-R with serum retinol (β = −0.262, p = 0.021), α-tocopherol (β = −0.236, p = 0.035), and γ-tocopherol levels (β = −0.224, p = 0.052); and cigarette smoking was inversely associated with the levels of serum α-tocopherol (β = −0.286, p = 0.008) and γ-tocopherol (β = −0.229, p = 0.040). We further found negative relationships between serum ferritin and the retinol (β = −0.211, p = 0.032) and α-tocopherol levels (β = −0.223, p = 0.022) in men over 40 years of age. The present study suggests that the circulatory levels of antioxidant vitamins may modulate the action of insulin and that higher levels of iron might decrease the levels of antioxidant vitamins in the blood.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.