Open AccessSerum Antioxidant Vitamins and Blood Pressure in the United States Population
Author(s) -
Jing Chen,
Jiang He,
L. Lee Hamm,
Vecihi Batuman,
Paul K. Whelton
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.986
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1524-4563
pISSN - 0194-911X
DOI - 10.1161/01.hyp.0000039962.68332.59
Subject(s) - blood pressure , medicine , national health and nutrition examination survey , carotene , odds ratio , vitamin , population , vitamin e , vitamin d and neurology , diastole , endocrinology , vitamin c , bayesian multivariate linear regression , antioxidant , food science , linear regression , biochemistry , biology , environmental health , machine learning , computer science
Serum vitamin C has been inversely associated with blood pressure in several epidemiologic studies, but little is known about effect of other antioxidant vitamins. We examined the relation between serum vitamins A, C, and E, α-carotene, and β-carotene levels and blood pressure among 15 317 men and women ≥20 years of age who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Blood pressure was characterized as the average of 6 measurements obtained over 2 visits by trained observers and hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg and/or taking antihypertensive medications. In multivariate models, a 1 SD difference in vitamin A (16.2 μg/dL) and vitamin E (20.4 μg/dL) was associated with a 43% (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.34 to 1.53) and 18% (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.27) higher odds of hypertension, respectively. A 1 SD difference in α-carotene (0.47 μg/dL) and β-carotene (496 μg/dL) was associated with a 16% (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.94) and 11% (OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.82 to 0.97) lower odds of hypertension, respectively. In addition, serum vitamins A and E were positively and significantly associated with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, whereas α-carotene and β-carotene were inversely and significantly associated with systolic and vitamin C associated with diastolic blood pressure in multivariate linear regression analyses. These findings indicate that antioxidant vitamins may be important in the underlying cause and prevention of hypertension. Further studies in this important area are warranted.