Duality of Tocopherol Isoforms and Novel Associations with Vitamins Involved in One-Carbon Metabolism: Results from an Elderly Sample of the LifeLines Cohort Study

Whether the affinity of serum vitamin E with total lipids hampers the appropriate assessment of its association with age-related risk factors has not been investigated in epidemiological studies. We aimed to compare linear regression-derived coefficients of the association of non-indexed and total l...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Camilo G. Sotomayor, Isidor Minović, Manfred L. Eggersdorfer, Ineke J. Riphagen, Martin H. de Borst, Louise H. Dekker, Ilja M. Nolte, Jan Frank, Sander K.R. van Zon, Sijmen A. Reijneveld, Jan C. van der Molen, Michel J. Vos, Jenny E. Kootstra-Ros, Ramón Rodrigo, Ido P. Kema, Gerjan J. Navis, Stephan J.L. Bakker
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-02-01
Series:Nutrients
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/2/580
Description
Summary:Whether the affinity of serum vitamin E with total lipids hampers the appropriate assessment of its association with age-related risk factors has not been investigated in epidemiological studies. We aimed to compare linear regression-derived coefficients of the association of non-indexed and total lipids-indexed vitamin E isoforms with clinical and laboratory characteristics pertaining to the lipid, metabolic syndrome, and one-carbon metabolism biological domains. We studied 1429 elderly subjects (non-vitamin supplement users, 60−75 years old, with low and high socioeconomic status) from the population-based LifeLines Cohort and Biobank Study. We found that the associations of tocopherol isoforms with lipids were inverted in total lipids-indexed analyses, which may be indicative of overcorrection. Irrespective of the methods of standardization, we consistently found positive associations of α-tocopherol with vitamins of the one-carbon metabolism pathway and inverse associations with characteristics related to glucose metabolism. The associations of γ-tocopherol were often opposite to those of α-tocopherol. These data suggest that tocopherol isoforms and one-carbon metabolism are related, with beneficial and adverse associations for α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol, respectively. Whether tocopherol isoforms, or their interplay, truly affect the one-carbon metabolism pathway remains to be further studied.
ISSN:2072-6643