Serum nutritional status of tocopherol and retinol normalized to lipids of persons living in the southern rural Terai region in Nepal

Abstract

Objective: The present study examined the levels of serum α-Tocopherol (Toc), retinol (Ret), cholesterol (Chol) and triglycerides (TG), and their correlations in the sera of people in Nepal.Methods: The survey was conducted on the general populace in the agricultural Terai region in southern Nepal. The study population consisted of 93 males and 83 females aged 10-68 years. Serum Toc and Ret were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography.Results: No significant differences were observed between the genders for the average of total Chol (T-Chol) (140 and 145 mg/100 ml, respectively), HDL-C (45 and 47 mg/100 ml), LDL-C (94 and 97 mg/ 100 ml), and TG (106 and 110 mg/100 ml), and the ratio of LDL/HDL (2.16). The levels of mean Toc (4.32 and 4.27 μg/ml) were about the same for both genders, while the mean Ret levels were significantly higher for males (624 ng/ml) than for females (535 ng/ml) (p<0.001). A direct relationship was found between the levels of Toc and Ret (r=0.46, p<0.001 and r=0.28, p<0.05 for males and females, respectively). Serum levels of Toc and Ret were positively related to the levels of Chol (r=0.48 and r=0.58, p<0.001 for males and r=0.49, p<0.001 and r=0.33, p<0.01 for females, respectively) and TG (r=0.23 and r=0.28, p<0.05 for males and r=0.29, p<0.01 and r=0.28, p<0.05 for females, respectively). The ratio of Toc/TG normalized to serum TG was directly correlated to the ratio of Ret/TG (r=0.79 for males, and r=0.72 for females, p<0.001, respectively) and the ratios of Toc/TG and Ret/TG were negatively related to the LDL/HDL levels (r=−0.49 and r=−0.43, for males, and r=−0.46 and r=−0.57 for females, p<0.001, respectively).Conclusion: The levels of Toc and Ret were low in the sera of people living in the southern rural Terai region in Nepal, and it was found that lower levels of Toc and Ret normalized to TG increased the ratio of LDL/HDL. These results suggest that greater intake of foods rich in Toc and Ret should be encouraged to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

Food consumption and serum nutritional status of people living in the Kathmandu valley in Nepal

“…Compared with the normal range of TC (150-230 mg/dl), the mean TC level was at the lower range of normal levels (13), whereas the mean value of TG was at the higher range of normal levels in this study. Similar findings of high TG levels have been reported previously for other people (132-165 mg/dl in a remote hilly village, 175 mg/dl for the males in the Itahari district, 98-134 mg/dl for both sexes in the Chitwan district) in Nepal (4,17,18) and 23 to 72-yearold males (126.0±0.9 mg/dl) in Korea (19). The large intake of cereals containing much carbohydrate may have contributed to the higher serum TG level because excess carbohydrate intake is converted to fat in the human body.…”

Evaluación del estado nutricional antropométrico de madres en período de lactancia y su relación con el estado nutricional de vitaminas liposolubles A y E

“…Hay más información disponible en niños japoneses de edad escolar, en hombres y mujeres de Nepal con un rango etario entre 10 y 68 años, en mujeres mexicanas entre 30 y 45 años, en niños filipinos de edad escolar, en mujeres coreanas entre 20 y 55 años, en hombres y mujeres entre 46 y 67 años, en mujeres en edad fértil y embarazadas entre 25 y 35 años, en niños chinos escolares 67,70,[76][77][78][79][80][81] .…”

“…Los autores concluyeron que en poblaciones con adecuado estado de nutrición en vitamina A, la práctica de la lactancia no tiene un efecto deletéreo, al contrario de lo que podía esperarse, cuando menos a nivel de concentraciones plasmáticas 96 . En otro estudio realizado en Nepal tampoco observaron deficiencia en ninguno de los grupos etarios de las mujeres evaluadas (incluido el grupo entre 20 y 29 años que se asemeja en edad a nuestra población, con una media de retinol de 55,3±12,8 µg/dL) 76 . Sin embargo, otro estudio en MPL de una población del Congo mostró una deficiencia (10-20 μg/dL) del 33% y de deficiencia severa de vitamina A (<10 μg/dL) del 28 %, además de una 3 .…”

“…Respecto de las relaciones de las vitaminas con los lípidos, nuestros resultados son comparables con los del estudio realizado en mujeres en Nepal 76 .…”

“…El objetivo de comparar con este trabajo, fue el de hallar las relaciones de las diferentes variables vitamínicas ajustadas por lípidos circulantes y no los valores absolutos. En algunas de estas variables no están definidos los puntos de cortes 76 .…”