Dietary intake and serum concentrations of antioxidants in children with juvenile arthritis

Objective Earlier studies have shown that patients suffering from juvenile arthritis (JA) have reduced serum concentrations of antioxidants compared with health y controls. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the lower seru m concentration of antioxidants found in these patients could be explained by a low dietary intake. Methods Serum from 14 patients and 22 healthy controls was analysed for the antioxi dants retinol, beta-carotene, vitamin E, zinc and selenium. All of the part icipants completed a food frequency questionnaire that gave a picture of th eir dietary intake for the previous month. Results Compared with the healthy controls, the patients with JA had significantly, reduced serum concentrations of beta-carotene (0.57 +/- 0.41 and 0.71 +/- 0.26 mmol/L respectively, p < 0.05), retinol (918 +/- 246 and 1176 +/- 300 IE/L, respectively, p < 0.01) and zinc (12.7 +/- 2.6 and 13.3 +/- 1.2 mmol/ L, respectively, p < 0.05). The dietary intake was equivalent in the two gr oups, brit the dietary intake of vitamin A, vitamin E and zinc did not reac h the recommended dietary allowances. There was a statistically significant difference in serum concentrations of vitamin E and selenium between patie nts regularly taking a dietary supplements and patients who did not do so ( p < 0.05). This difference was not found in the control group. Conclusion The results of this study confirm that children suffering from JCA have red uced serum levels of beta-carotene retinol and zinc compared with healthy c ontrols. Patients benefited from dietary supplements of nutrients when the dietary intake did not I-each the recommended dietary allowances.