title: Greater serum carotenoid concentration associated with higher bone mineral density in Chinese adults.
abstract: This cross-sectional study has been performed to investigate the relationship between serum carotenoids and bone mineral density (BMD) in Chinese population. We found that women with higher serum β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, or α-carotene exhibited higher BMD at various bone sites. Similar association was observed between α-carotene and BMD in men.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Carotenoids may positively regulate bone metabolism through their antioxidant properties; however, few studies have examined the relation between serum carotenoids and bone health. We aimed to determine the associations between the serum concentration of several carotenoid subclasses and BMD in a Chinese population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was a community-based cross-sectional study. We measured 1898 women and 933 men aged 59.6 years who completed serum β-cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin + lutein, lycopene, and α-carotene concentration analyses and BMD assessments. Serum individual carotenoids were assessed by the methods of reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was applied to determine BMD at whole body, lumbar spine, total hip, femur neck, and trochanter. ANCOVA was used to examine the correlations between categorized individual carotenoids and BMD at measured sites.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for potential covariates, a monotonic dose-response positive correlation between circulating levels of β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, and α-carotene and BMD at various skeletal sites was observed in women. Women in the top (vs. bottom) quartiles of serum β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, or α-carotene exhibited 1.8-2.3, 1.5-2.0, or 1.3-2.7 % higher BMD at the bone sites with significant results (P-trend <0.05), respectively. For men, the corresponding values were 2.6-4.0 % for α-carotene at the whole body and hip regions (P-trend <0.001-0.023).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that serum carotenoids have a favorable association with bone health in the study population, especially in women.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People's Republic of China.|Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Z-Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: W-T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People's Republic of China. suyx@mail.sysu.edu.cn.|Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People's Republic of China. suyx@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Y-X
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People's Republic of China. chenyum@mail.sysu.edu.cn.|Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, People's Republic of China. chenyum@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Y-M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon / Q000379:methods; D000368:Aged; D000072743:Beta-Cryptoxanthin / Q000097:blood; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000077276:Lycopene; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D000072743:Beta-Cryptoxanthin; D002338:Carotenoids; C041635:alpha-carotene; D000077276:Lycopene
keywords: Adults; Bone mineral density; Carotenoids; Chinese; Serum