Associations between circulating lipids and fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids in healthy overweight and obese men

Authors: KELLY, JENNIFER - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; MATUSZEK, GREGORY - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; VAN DEN BROEK, TIM - The Netherlands Organisation For Applied Scientific Research (TNO); HUGGINS, GORDON - Tufts Medical Center; SMITH, CAREN - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; ORDOVAS, JOSE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; WOPEREIS, SUZAN - The Netherlands Organisation For Applied Scientific Research (TNO); BOOTH, SARAH - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University

Submitted to: Current Developments in Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/14/2020
Publication Date: 6/11/2020
Citation: Kelly, J.M., Matuszek, G., Van Den Broek, T.J., Huggins, G.S., Smith, C.E., Ordovas, J.M., Wopereis, S., Booth, S.L. 2020. Associations between circulating lipids and fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids in healthy overweight and obese men. Current Developments in Nutrition. 4(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzaa089.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzaa089

Interpretive Summary: Circulating concentrations of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids are influenced by blood lipids. Blood lipids can now be described in much more detail beyond the standard lipid panel of triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL, and HDL that one gets in a standard health screening. However, to obtain this more detailed description of blood lipids, one must use specialized, state-of-the-art technology that is not widely available. The aim of this study was to determine if the more detailed measurement of blood lipids using state-of-the-art technology would better explain the contribution of lipids to circulating concentrations of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids in healthy men. The data indicated that measurement of the standard lipid panel provided the same amount of information regarding the influence of lipids on circulating concentrations of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids as did the more detailed measurements using the state-of-the-art technology. Therefore, we conclude that the influence of blood lipids on circulating fat-soluble vitamin and carotenoid concentrations can be evaluated using a standard lipid panel.

Technical Abstract: There is a heterogeneous influence of lipids on circulating concentrations of biomarkers of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoid status. The aim of this hypothesis-generating study was to examine the contribution of the LC-MS-based lipidome, characterized by lipid class, carbon count, and number of unsaturated bonds, to the interindividual variability in circulating concentrations of retinol, carotenoids, 25hydroxyvitamin D3, alpha-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, and phylloquinone in 35 overweight, but healthy men. A sparse partial least squares method was used to accomplish this aim. Highly abundant phospholipids and triglycerides contributed to the interindividual variability in phylloquinone, alpha-tocopherol, and gamma-tocopherol. Interindividual variability in lycopene concentrations was driven by concentrations of low-abundant triglyceride. 25hydroxyvitamin D3 , retinol, and the other carotenoids were not influenced by lipids. Except for lycopene, evaluation of lipids beyond class does not appear to further explain the interindividual variability in circulating concentrations of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids.