Serum carotenoids and atherosclerosis - The Rotterdam Study

High circulating levels of carotenoids have been thought to exhibit a prote ctive function in the development of atherosclerosis. We investigated wheth er aortic atherosclerosis was associated with lower levels of the major ser um carotenoids in alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein , lycopene, and zeaxanthin-in a subsample of the elderly population of the Rotterdam Study. Aortic atherosclerosis was assessed by presence of calcifi ed plaques of the abdominal aorta. The case-control analysis comprised 108 subjects with aortic atherosclerosis and controls. In an age- and sex-adjus ted logistic regression model, serum lycopene was inversely associated with the risk of atherosclerosis. The odds ratio for the highest compared to th e lowest quartile of serum lycopene was 0.55 (95% CI 0.25- 1.22; p(trend) = 0.13). Multivariate adjustment did not appreciably alter these results. St ratification by smoking status indicated that the inverse association betwe en lycopene and aortic calcification was most evident in current and former smokers (OR = 0.35; 95% CI 0.13-0.94; p(trend) = 0.04). No association wit h atherosclerosis was observed for quartiles of serum concentrations of alp ha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. In conclusion, this stu dy provides evidence for a modest inverse association between levels of ser um lycopene and presence of atherosclerosis, the association being most pro nounced in current and former smokers. Our findings suggest that lycopene m ay play a protective role in the development of atherosclerosis. (C) 2000 E lsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.