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Research: SESSO and co-workers,
Listed in Issue 125
Abstract
SESSO and co-workers, Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215-1204, USA, hsesso@hsph.harvard.edu, have researched the relationship between lycopene, other carotenoids, retinol and the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Background
Emerging evidence suggests a possible role of lycopene in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to examine whether plasma lycopene concentrations were associated with cardiovascular disease.
Methodology
In this prospective, nested, case-control study, 499 incident cases of cardiovascular disease were identified among the subjects of the Physicians' Health Study and matched with healthy cases. Plasma carotenoids, retinol, lipids, and C-reactive protein were measured in he blood of these men.
Results
In matched analyses, the relative risks of cardiovascular disease for men in the lowest to highest quartiles of plasma lycopene were 1.00, 0.92, 1.04, and 0.95. With multivariate adjustment, the relative risks of total cardiovascular disease were 1.00, 1.08, 0.94, and 1.03. For important vascular events (241 cases), the multivariate relative risks remained nonsignificant. Adding plasma carotenoids, lipids, or C-reactive protein to multivariate models had a minimal effect on the relative risks for plasma lycopene. Compared with lycopene, higher concentrations of plasma lutein/zeaxanthin and retinol suggested a moderate increase in cardiovascular disease risk, whereas no association was found for beta-cryptoxanthin, alpha-carotene, and beta-carotene.
Conclusion
Higher plasma lycopene concentrations were not associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease in this study of older men. Further evaluation in diverse populations is necessary.
References
Sesso HD, Buring JE, Norkus EP, Gaziano JM. Plasma lycopene, other carotenoids, and retinol and the risk of cardiovascular disease in men. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 81 (5): 990-997, May 2005.
