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Population-based study of - and -tocopherol in plasma and adipose tissue as biomarkers of intake in Costa Rican adults^1,2,3

From the Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and the Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica.

Background: -Tocopherol is the most abundant form of vitamin E in the US diet, but -tocopherol concentrations are the highest in plasma and tissues. Although plasma and adipose tissue concentrations of -tocopherol have been used as biomarkers of intake, the relation between -tocopherol intake and concentrations in plasma and adipose tissue is unknown.

Objective: Our goal was to investigate in a randomly selected population from Costa Rica whether plasma or adipose tissue concentrations of - and -tocopherol are suitable biomarkers of intake.

Design: A total of 361 men ( ± SD age: 55 ± 11 y) and 121 women (aged 59 ± 10 y) completed a 135-item food-frequency questionnaire and provided a fasting blood sample and adipose tissue biopsy sample.

Results: Dietary -tocopherol correlated with adipose tissue (r = 0.37, P < 0.001) and plasma (r = 0.42, P < 0.001) concentrations, regardless of supplement use. Dietary -tocopherol correlated poorly with adipose tissue (r = 0.15, P < 0.01) and plasma (r = 0.16, P < 0.001) concentrations, and these correlations were even lower when users of vitamin supplements (n = 24) were excluded (adipose tissue: r = 0.10, P < 0.05; plasma: r = 0.09, P < 0.05). Compared with subjects who reported palm shortening (36%) as the major type of fat used for cooking, subjects using soybean oil (52%) had higher amounts of both - and -tocopherol in their diets. However, only -tocopherol concentrations were higher in the plasma and adipose tissue of soybean oil users.

Conclusions: Plasma and adipose tissue concentrations of -tocopherol are equally good biomarkers of intake. The weak associations between -tocopherol intake and plasma or adipose tissue concentrations suggest that these biomarkers are influenced more by factors other than -tocopherol intake.

Key Words: Vitamin E • biomarkers • -tocopherol • -tocopherol • adipose tissue • -tocopherol transfer protein • food-frequency questionnaire • Hispanics • Costa Rica

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