Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T19:24:36.527Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

β-Carotene–vitamin A equivalence in Chinese adults assessed by an isotope dilution technique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Zhixu Wang ,
Shian Yin ,
Xianfeng Zhao ,
Robert M. Russell  and
Guangwen Tang
Zhixu Wang*
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Room 202, 29 Nanwei Road, Xuanwu District, Beijing, China100050 Institute of Medical Nutrition, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao, China266021
Shian Yin
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Room 202, 29 Nanwei Road, Xuanwu District, Beijing, China100050
Xianfeng Zhao
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Room 202, 29 Nanwei Road, Xuanwu District, Beijing, China100050
Robert M. Russell
Affiliation:
Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA02111
Guangwen Tang
Affiliation:
Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA02111
*
*Corresponding author: Dr Zhixu Wang, fax +86 10 6301 1875, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The present study was carried out to determine the conversion factor of synthetic 2H-labelled β-carotene to vitamin A in Chinese adults by using a stable-isotope dilution technique. Fifteen healthy volunteers aged 50–60 years were recruited for a 55 d experiment. The volunteers (nine males and six females) were each given a physiological dose of [2H8]β-carotene (6 mg) in oil on the first day of the experiment, and a reference dose of [2H8]retinyl acetate (3 mg) in oil was given on the fourth day. Serum samples were collected at 0, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 h on the first and the fourth days of the study, daily for 10 d, and then weekly from days 14 to 56. β-Carotene and retinol were extracted from serum and isolated by HPLC, and their enrichments were respectively determined by using GC–electron capture negative chemical ionisation-MS and LC–atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation interface-MS. Four of the subjects exhibited β-carotene to vitamin A conversion factors of >29·0:1 on a molar basis and were termed ‘poor converters’. In the eleven normal converters (seven males and four females), the calculated conversion factors of β-carotene to retinol ranged from 2·0:1 to 12·2:1 with an average of 4·8 (sd 2·8):1 on a molar basis, and from 3·8:1 to 22·8:1 with an average of 9·1 (sd 5·3):1 on a weight basis. The 52 d post-intestinal absorption conversion was estimated to be about 30 % of the total converted retinol.

Keywords

β-CaroteneVitamin ABiological conversion efficiencyIsotope dilution technique
Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 91 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 121 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2004

References

Blomstrand, R & Werner, B (1967) Studies on the intestinal absorption of radioactive β-carotene and vitamin A in man. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 19, 339–345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chinese Nutrition Society (2000) Chinese Dietary Reference Intakes (In Chinese) pp. 264. Beijing, China: Light Industry Press.Google Scholar
Craft, NE, Brown, ED & Smith, JC (1988) Effects of storage and handling conditions on concentrations of individual carotenoids, retinol, and tocopherol in plasma. Clin Chem 34, 44–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diem, K (1962) Documenta Geigy: Scientific Tables 6th ed., Ardsley, NY: Geigy Pharmaceuticals.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (1967) Requirements of vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin. Report of a Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee, FAO Nutrition Meeting Report Series no. 41. WHO Technical Report Series Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Furr, HC, Amedee-Manesme, O & Clifford, AJ (1989) Vitamin A concentration in liver determined by isotope dilution assay with tetradeuterated vitamin A and biopsy in generally healthy humans. Am J Clin Nutr 49, 713–716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, DS, Blomstrand, R, Werner, B, Huang, HS & Shiratori, (1966) The intestinal absorption and metabolism of vitamin A and β-carotene in man. J Clin Invest 45, 1615–1623.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, MH, Green, JB & Lewis, KC (1987) Variation in retinol utilization rate with vitamin A status in the rat. J Nutr 117, 694–703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haskell, M, Islam, M & Handelman, G (1998) Plasma kinetics of an oral dose of [2H4 ] retinyl acetate in human subjects with estimated low or high total body stores of vitamin A. Am J Clin Nutr 68, 90–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hume, EM & Krebs, HA (1949) Vitamin A requirement of human adults. An experimental study of vitamin A deprivation in man. Medical Research Council Special Report Series no. 264 London: His Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Institute of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine (1996) The Dietary and Nutritional Status of Chinese Population (1992 National Nutrition Survey) [Ge, KY, editor]. (In Chinese) pp. 195. Beijing, China: People's Medical Publishing House.Google Scholar
Johnson, EJ, Hammond, BR & Yeum, KJ (2000) Relation among serum and tissue concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin and macular pigment density. Am J Clin Nutr 71, 1555–1562.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lin, Y, Dueker, SR & Burri, BJ (2000) Variability of the conversion of β-carotene to vitamin A in women measured by using a double-tracer study design. Am J Clin Nutr 71, 1545–1554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Research Council (1989) Recommended Dietary Allowances, 10th ed., Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Olson, JA (1986) Carotenoids, vitamin A and cancer. J Nutr 116, 1127–1130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ribaya-Mercado, JD, Solon, FS, Cabal-Barza, MAet al. (2000) Bioconversion of plant carotenoids to vitamin A in Filipino school-aged children varies inversely with vitamin A status. Am J Clin Nutr 72, 455–465.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rothman, KJ, Moore, LL & Singer, MR (1995) Teratogenicity of high vitamin A intake. N Engl J Med 333, 1369–1373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sauberlich, HE, Hodges, RE & Wallace, DL (1974) Vitamin A metabolism and requirements in the human studied with the use of labelled retinol. Vitam Horm 32, 251–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomons, NW (2001) Vitamin A and carotenoids. In Present Knowledge in Nutrition, 8th ed., pp. 127–139 [Bowman, BA, Russell, RM, editors]. Washington, DC: ILSI Press.Google Scholar
Tang, G, Andrien, BA Jr, Dolnikowski, GG & Russell, RM (1997) Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and electron capture negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry in studying β-carotene conversion to retinol in humans. Meth Enzymol 282, 140–154.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tang, G, Donikowski, GG & Blanco, MC (1993) Serum carotenoids and retinoids in ferrets fed canthaxanthin. J Nutr Biochem 4, 58–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tang, G, Qin, J & Dolnikowskl, GG (1998) Deuterium enrichment of retinol in humans determined by gas chromatography electron capture negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry. J Nutr Biochem 9, 408–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tang, G, Qin, J, Dolnikowski, GG & Russell, RM (2000) Vitamin A equivalence of β-carotene in a woman as determined by a stable isotope reference method. Eur J Nutr 39, 7–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tang, G, Qin, J, Dolnikowski, GG & Russell, RM (2003) Short-term (intestinal) and long-term (whole-body) conversion of β-carotene to vitamin A in adults using a stable isotope reference method. Am J Clin Nutr 78, 259–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tang, G, Qin, J, Hao, L, Yin, S & Russell, RM (2002) Use of a short-term isotope-dilution method for determining the vitamin A status of children. Am J Clin Nutr 76, 413–418.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
US Institute of Medicine (2001) Dietary reference intakes for vitamin A, vitamin K, arsenic, boron, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, vanadium, and zinc. A Report of the Panel on Micronutrients, Subcommittees on Upper Reference Levels of Nutrients and of Interpretation and Use of Dietary Reference Intakes, and the Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes. Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Villard, L & Bates, C (1986) Carotene dioxygenase [EC 1.13.11.21] activity in rat intestine: effects of vitamin A deficiency and pregnancy. Br J Nutr 56, 115–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, X, Tang, G & Fox, J (1991) Enzymatic conversion of β-carotene into β-apo-carotenals and retinoids by human, monkey, ferret, and rat tissues. Arch Biochem Biophys 285, 8–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization (1995) Global Prevalence of Vitamin A Deficiency, (WHO/NUT/95.3). Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Yeum, KJ, Booth, SL & Sadowski, JA (1996) Human plasma carotenoid response to the ingestion of controlled diets high in fruits and vegetables. Am J Clin Nutr 64, 594–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar