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ARS Home » Plains Area » Grand Forks, North Dakota » Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center » Healthy Body Weight Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #303347
Title: Skin and plasma carotenoid response to a provided intervention diet high in fruits and vegetables: Uptake and depletion kinetics

Author
item Jahns, Lisa
item JOHNSON, LUANN - University Of North Dakota
item MAYNE, SUSAN - Yale University
item CARTMEL, BRENDA - Yale University
item Picklo, Matthew
item ERMAKOV, IGOR - University Of Utah
item GELLERMAN, WERNER - University Of Utah
item WHIGHAM, LEAH - The Paso Del Norte Institute For Healthy Living

Submitted to: Carotenoid Symposium
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/4/2014
Publication Date: 6/29/2014
Citation: Jahns, L.A., Johnson, L.K., Mayne, S.T., Cartmel, B., Picklo, M.J., Ermakov, I.V., Gellerman, W., Whigham, L.D. 2014. Skin and plasma carotenoid response to a provided intervention diet high in fruits and vegetables: Uptake and depletion kinetics. Carotenoid Symposium. Abstract presentation at: the Internation Carotnoid Society Sumposium; June 29-July4, 2014; Park City, UT. www.icsutah2014.com

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Observational studies suggest a positive association between high vegetable and fruit (V/F) intake and reduced risk of chronic disease, yet low intakes are found worldwide. Efforts to increase consumption include environmental and individual-based behavioral interventions. The success of interventions is difficult to measure as commonly used subjective self-report methods suffer from well-documented biases and errors. Therefore, objective biological markers are needed to assess adherence to V/F intervention trials. Carotenoid compounds are attractive biomarkers of V/F intake as humans cannot synthesize them; they are deposited into many tissues, and have a relatively long half-life depending on location. Skin carotenoid status assessed by resonance Raman spectroscopy (RRS) has emerged as a promising new biomarker of V/F intake in both children and adults. Our group has previously demonstrated a wide distribution of skin carotenoid levels, high reproducibility over 6 months in the absence of intervention, and validity compared to blood concentration, skin biopsy, and to reported V/F intake, all necessary characteristics for a biomarker of nutritional status and food intake. Rapid, non-invasive, optical assessment of skin carotenoid status holds great promise as a powerful assessment tool for both observational and interventional research. However, the ability of the method to track skin carotenoid changes in response to increases in V/F consumption has not been investigated. We conducted a 28-week controlled feeding intervention with different amounts of V/F comparing the kinetics of change in skin and blood carotenoids. In our study, 29 individuals followed a diet prescription low in carotenoid-rich foods for 6 weeks (depletion diet). For the following 8 weeks, individuals consumed a specially provided diet containing an average of 6 cups V/F per day or ~62 mg mixed carotenoids per day. Subsequently, participants followed the depletion diet for 6 weeks, and then returned to their self-selected usual diet for 8 weeks. During all these 28 weeks, RRS measurements were taken at least 2x/wk and blood at mid- and endpoint of each phase was collected for HPLC carotenoid analysis. The corresponding skin carotenoid accumulation and depletion kinetics for all 29 participants are shown below. We establish that skin carotenoid levels measured by RRS are a valid and reliable biomarker of change in V/F intake and carotenoid status. Skin carotenoid levels responded quickly to changes in V/F intake and were highly correlated with blood concentrations, making RRS an ideal biomarker for interventional and observational studies of V/F intake. In addition, we also compared RRS against an alternative method of assessing skin carotenoids involving skin reflectance, and report our correlations between the two methods.