title: Smoking during pregnancy and plasma concentrations beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol in the immediate postpartum period in Brazilian women.
abstract: This study investigated the relationship between plasma concentrations of beta-carotene and the alpha-tocopherol/lipid ratio, and smoking in 233 postpartum women, from July to November 2002, in the city of Joinville, Brazil. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of the women included in this study had low concentrations of alpha-tocopherol (< 11.63 micromol/L) and 61% of the women presented low concentrations of beta-carotene (< 0.39 micromol/L). Multivariate regression analysis investigated the relationship between smoking and the concentration of the vitamins, adjusting by confounding variables. The final regression model showed inverse associations between beta-carotene concentrations and smoking (p = 0.036), and beta-carotene concentrations and triglyceride levels (p = 0.021). There was an association between the plasma alpha-tocopherol/lipid ratio and per capita income (p = 0.003), but no association with smoking. We advise further studies to evaluate the impact of smoking and oxidative stress on the concentrations of these vitamins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Silmara S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rondó
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bergamaschi
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mastroeni
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood*; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000097:blood*; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D019207:beta Carotene; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol