title: alpha-Tocopherol concentrations in plasma but not in lipoproteins fluctuate during the menstrual cycle in healthy premenopausal women.
abstract: Because premenopausal women experience cyclic fluctuations of plasma carotenoids and their lipoprotein carriers, it was hypothesized that plasma alpha-tocopherol (A-T) fluctuates by phase of the menstrual cycle. Twelve free-living women, with a confirmed ovulatory cycle, were given a controlled diet for two consecutive menstrual cycles. Blood was drawn during the menses, early follicular, late follicular and luteal phases to simultaneously measure serum hormones, plasma lipoproteins and A-T concentrations, and A-T distribution in the lipoprotein fractions. Plasma A-T concentrations were significantly lower during menses than during the luteal phase by approximately 12% in each controlled diet cycle (P < 0.001). Adjustment for serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations did not alter these findings. The distributions of A-T in lipoprotein cholesterol fractions were not significantly different by menstrual phase. From 61 to 62% of A-T was concentrated in the LDL fraction, with another 9-14% in HDL2, 17-22% in HDL3 and the remaining 6-8% in VLDL+ IDL. There were no significant differences in lipoprotein cholesterol fractions by menstrual phase, except for a significant increase (P = 0.03) in HDL2 cholesterol from the early follicular to the late follicular phase. Spearman rank correlations from data during the second controlled diet month showed A-T in HDL2 in the late follicular phase was positively correlated with HDL cholesterol in the early follicular (r = 0.88), late follicular (r = 0.86) and luteal phases (r = 0.86) and with luteal apolipoprotein (ApoA-1) level (r = 0.90), and luteal HDL2 cholesterol (r = 0.83). A-T in HDL3 in the early follicular phase was negatively correlated with HDL2 cholesterol (r = -0.96) and ApoA-1 (r = -0.85), whereas luteal A-T in HDL3 was correlated with luteal HDL3 cholesterol (r = -0.79). Late follicular A-T in VLDL was positively correlated with early follicular HDL3 cholesterol and late follicular HDL3 cholesterol (r = 0.83). Fluctuations of A-T concentrations by phase of the menstrual cycle should be taken into consideration in future research concerning premenopausal women and the risk of chronic disease.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lanza
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Forman
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Muesing
authors.forename: B I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Graubard
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Beecher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005498:Follicular Phase / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D053419:Lipoproteins, IDL; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000097:blood; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL / Q000097:blood; D008183:Luteal Phase / Q000097:blood; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000097:blood*; D017697:Premenopause; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008074:Lipoproteins; D053419:Lipoproteins, IDL; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL; D014810:Vitamin E