title: Plasma vitamin concentrations in patients with intestinal metaplasia and in controls. UK Subgroup of the ECP-EURONUT-IM Study Group.
abstract: A case-control study has been carried out on 129 patients with newly diagnosed intestinal metaplasia (IM) recruited in four UK centres (London, Slough, Stoke and Glasgow). Serum assays of a range of vitamins demonstrated that 38% of IM patients had serum ascorbic acid levels below the detection levels compared with only 16% of controls free of chronic gastric lesions; this difference was also seen in the patients from the individual centres. There were no major differences between cases and controls in any other serum vitamin levels measured (carotene, tocopherol or the ratio of tocopherol to cholesterol). Comparison of the healthy asymptomatic controls suggested that the intakes of ascorbic acid and of beta-carotene were much higher in southern England than in Stoke or Glasgow. The tocopherol status in the four centres tended to be more similar.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D005773:Gastroscopy; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008297:Male; D008679:Metaplasia; D008875:Middle Aged; D012606:Scotland; D013270:Stomach / Q000473:pathology*; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014801:Vitamin A; D014810:Vitamin E; D002338:Carotenoids; D002784:Cholesterol; D001205:Ascorbic Acid