Possible Interaction: Alpha-Carotene and Beta Carotene

“… beta-carotene produced a persistent 9- to 10-fold increase in median plasma beta-carotene concentrations (225 nmol/L … to 2255 nmol/L at 3 mo) and a persistent 2-fold increase in median plasma alpha-carotene concentrations (45 nmol/L at baseline to … nmol/L at 3 mo).”

“Recent studies found … who took beta-carotene supplements orally had increases … serum concentrations of alpha-carotene and lycopene that were large (> 150% increase) and significantly greater than such increases in subjects who received … and that similar supplementation was associated with a decrease of approximately 37% in plasma lutein concentrations.”

“However, dietary alpha-carotene and beta-carotene were inversely associated with the risk of ER-PR-breast cancer among ever smokers.”

“After adjustment for age, smoking, and other CAD risk factors, we observed modest but significant inverse associations between the highest quintiles of intake of beta-carotene and alpha-carotene and risk of CAD but no significant relation with intakes of lutein/zeaxanthin, lycopene, or beta-cryptoxanthin.”

“The association was highly significant for alpha-carotene and beta-carotene , significant for lutein-zeaxanthin, and borderline significant (p approximately 0.07) for lycopene.”

“Four days of supplementation with natural …/day of cis-beta-carotene) or synthetic beta-carotene (23.8 mg/day of all-trans-beta-carotene, 4.4 mg/day of … consumption of a low-carotenoid meal (i.e., 7.2-fold increase in alpha-carotene and 3.5-… beta-carotene).”

“In contrast, strong correlations between prostate beta-carotene and alpha-carotene are noted (correlation coefficient, 0.88; P < 0.0001), as are correlations between several other carotenoid pairs, which reflects their similar dietary origins.”

“Serum concentrations of alpha- and beta-carotenes were higher in nonsmokers ( alpha-carotene : 7.4 micrograms/dl; beta-carotene: 22.6 micrograms/dl) than in current smokers (alpha-carotene: 5.9 micrograms/dl; beta-carotene: 18.4 micrograms/dl).”

“Alpha and beta carotene , from algae-derived capsules and raw carrots, significantly increased SAC and SBC levels during the TP.”

“ beta-Carotene supplementation markedly elevated maternal serum and milk beta-carotene concentrations (nine- and sevenfold, respectively) and resulted in smaller, transient increases of alpha-carotene , lycopene, and beta-cryptoxanthin concentrations in maternal serum.”