title: Effect of a low beta-carotene diet on the immune functions of adult women.
abstract: We examined the effect of beta-carotene depletion and repletion on the immune status of nine healthy women who lived in the metabolic suite for 100 d. For the first 4 d all women were fed a basal diet supplemented with 1.5 mg beta-carotene/d (baseline). During the next 68 d, the basal diet without beta-carotene supplementation was fed to all subjects (depletion), and during the last 28 d the diet of each women was supplemented with 15.0 mg beta-carotene/d (repletion). Neither beta-carotene depletion nor repletion significantly (P < or = 0.05) altered proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells cultured with phytohemagglutinin or concanavalin A, in vitro production of soluble interleukin 2 receptor, or the concentration of circulating lymphocytes and their subsets. Thus, in healthy adults consuming adequate vitamin A, beta-carotene depletion had no adverse effect on the indexes tested, nor was there any beneficial effect of modest beta-carotene supplementation.
authors.affiliation: US Department of Agriculture, Western Human Nutrition Research Center Presidio of San Francisco, CA 94129.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Daudu
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Burri
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019207:beta Carotene
chemical_list: D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D019207:beta Carotene; D003208:Concanavalin A; D014801:Vitamin A; D002338:Carotenoids