Dietary intake and plasma vitamin E of older subjects

Graduation date: 1975The plasma concentrations and the dietary intakes of vitamin E\ud were determined in 20 elderly and ten young subjects. Five subjects\ud in the older group were known to take supplements of vitamin E. The\ud mean concentration of tocopherols (determined chemically) in the\ud plasma of all unsupplemented subjects was 1.12 ± 0.33 mg/100 ml.\ud No significant difference in plasma tocopherols due to age or sex\ud was found. However, the mean concentration in the plasma of the\ud supplemented subjects (1.39 ± 0.26 mg/100 ml) was significantly\ud higher than that of the unsupplemented subjects. The mean alphatocopherol\ud activity in the diets (estimated from a three-day diet study)\ud of all subjects was 8.51 ± 3.74 mg. The young group had a significantly\ud greater intake than the elderly group. No significant difference between\ud the sexes was observed. The mean ratio of alpha-tocopherol\ud activity to polyunsaturated fatty acids (E:PUFA) in the diets of all subjects\ud was 1.47 ± 1.17 mg/gm. The significant difference between the age groups or sexes was observed. A significant linear relationship\ud between plasma tocopherols and dietary alpha-tocopherol activity\ud or the E:PUFA ratio was not found.\ud Neither age, sex nor dietary intake was related to a significant\ud change in plasma tocopherols. However, subjects using supplements\ud of vitamin E had a significantly higher mean plasma concentration of\ud tocopherols