DETERMINANTS OF THE NUTRITIONAL-STATUS OF VITAMIN-E IN A NONSMOKING MEDITERRANEAN POPULATION - ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF VITAMIN-E INTAKE, ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION AND BODY-MASS INDEX ON THE SERUM ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL CONCENTRATION

Objectives: Study was conducted in order to investigate the associatio n of vitamin E intake and other factors with plasma alpha-tocopherol c oncentration in a non-smoking Mediterranean population. Design: A cros s-sectional study was conducted in a subsample of a representative sam ple of the Catalan population. Subjects: Sample size was 143 men and w omen, aged between Is and 75 y, and final response rate reached 61.9% of the initial sample. Interventions: Serum alpha-tocopherol concentra tion standardized by serum total lipids was used as a proxy of the nut ritional status of vitamin E. Vitamin E intake and alcohol consumption were estimated by a replicated 24 h recall method. Dietary data were collected in two different periods, winter and summer, in order to acc ount for seasonal variation in nutrient intake, and were corrected for random within-person variability in order to account for day-to-day v ariation in nutrient intake. Multivariate linear regression models wer e fitted in order to estimate the determinants of serum alpha-tocopher ol concentration.Results: In this population study, for each one mg in crease in vitamin E intake, serum alpha-tocopherol concentration incre ased, on average, 0.66 micromol/L, after adjusting for age, gender, Bo dy Mass Index (BMI), alcohol consumption and energy intake. BMI also i nfluenced significantly serum alpha-tocopherol concentration, whereas alcohol intake, age and gender did not show significant associations w ith serum alpha-tocopherol. Conclusions: The study showed that vitamin E nutritional status was associated to vitamin E intake and BMI in no n-smokers.