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Research: HOZAWA and COLLEAGUES,
Listed in Issue 172
Abstract
HOZAWA and COLLEAGUES, Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454, USA studied the association of serum carotenoids and lycopene with hypertension in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study.
Background
Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated that carotenoid concentrations relate inversely to cardiovascular disease incidence. Thus, we examined the association of circulating carotenoids with hypertension, a major macrovascular disease risk factor.
Methodology
Black and White men and women in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study, aged 18-30 years at recruitment (1985-1986) from four US cities, were investigated over 20 years. At years 0, 7, and 15, the authors determined the relationships of the sum of four serum carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein/zeaxanthin, cryptoxanthin) and of lycopene with incident hypertension using proportional hazards regression models.
Results
In 4412 participants, year 0 sum of four carotenoids was significantly inversely associated with 20-year hypertension incidence after adjustment for baseline systolic blood pressure and other confounding factors (relative hazard per SD increase of sum of four carotenoids: 0.91; 95% confidence interval = 0.84-0.99). The inverse relationships persisted in time-dependent models updating year 0 sum of four carotenoids with year 7 and year 15 values (relative hazard per SD increase of sum of four carotenoids: 0.84; 95% confidence interval = 0.77-0.92). Lycopene was unrelated to hypertension in any model.
Conclusion
Those individuals with higher concentrations of sum of carotenoids, not including lycopene, generally had lower risk for future hypertension.
References
Hozawa A, Jacobs DR Jr, Steffes MW, Gross MD, Steffen LM and Lee DH. Circulating carotenoid concentrations and incident hypertension: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. Journal of Hypertension. 27(2): 237-42. Feb 2009.
Comment
This research indicated that serum levels of four circulating carotenoids - alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein/zeaxanthin, cryptoxanthin - were significantly inversely associated with hypertension, even after 20 years of follow-up. This means that the higher the levels of carotenoids, the lower the risk of hypertension.
