Lycopene and Myocardial Infarction Risk in the EURAMIC Study

Abstract

A multicenter case-control study was conducted to evaluate the relations between antioxidant status assessed by biomarkers and acute myocardial infarction. Incidence cases and frequency matched controls were recruited from 10 European countries to maximize the variance in exposure within the study. Adipose tissue needle aspiration biopsies were taken shortly after the infarction and analyzed for levels of carotenoids and tocopherols. An examination of colinearity including all covariates and the three carotenoids, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and lycopene, showed that the variables were sufficiently independent to model simultaneously. When examined singularly, each of the carotenoids appeared to be protective. Upon simultaneous analyses of the carotenoids, however, using conditional logistic regression models that controlled for age, body mass index, socioeconomic status, smoking, hypertension, and maternal and paternal history of disease, lycopene remained independently protective, with an odds ratio of 0.52 for the contrast of the 10th and 90th percentiles (95% confidence interval 0.33-0.82, p = 0.005). The associations for alpha- and beta-carotene were largely eliminated. We conclude that lycopene, or some substance highly correlated which is in a common food source, may contribute to the protective effect of vegetable consumption on myocardial infarction risk.

Effects of chronic and acute consumption of fruit- and vegetable-puree-based drinks on vasodilation, risk factors for CVD and the response as a result of theeNOSG298T polymorphism

“…The most powerful population-based evidence has been derived from a European multicentre case-control study (52) . This study investigated the relationship between acute myocardial infarction and adipose tissue antioxidant status.…”

Tomatoes versus lycopene in oxidative stress and carcinogenesis: conclusions from clinical trials

“…In addition, a higher concentration of serum lycopene was inversely correlated with a decrease in the mean and maximal intima-mediated thickness of the common carotid artery (CCA-IMT) with low lycopene, resulting in an 18% increase in CCA-IMT (Rissanen et al, 2003). The European Multicenter Case-Control Study on Antioxidants, Myocardial Infarction and Breast Cancer Study (EURAMIC Study) reported that a higher lycopene concentration was independently protective against CVD (Kohlmeier et al, 1997). The Women's Health Study, further revealed that a decreased risk for developing CVD was more strongly associated with higher tomato intake than with lycopene intake (Sesso et al, 2003).…”

“…Dietary intakes of tomatoes and tomato products containing lycopene have been associated with a decreased risk of diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in numerous studies (Kohlmeier et al, 1997;Giovannucci et al, 2002;Sesso et al, 2003). Tomatoes account for 85% of lycopene consumption in an average American diet, and is an essential component of the Mediterranean diet, which is well known for its cardioprotective and anticarcinogenic health effects (LaVecchia, 1997;de Lorgeril et al, 1999).…”

Relationship of serum carotenoid concentrations with allostatic load as a measure of chronic stress among middle-aged adults in the USA

“…Biological interrelationships among carotenoids and various dietary antioxidants have been increasingly emphasized in the literature (37,(61)(62)(63) . That is why all our analyses were adjusted for other individual carotenoids.…”