Smoke Clears In Medical Mystery--Beta-Carotene

FOR RELEASE: Wed., Jan. 22

ACS News Service Contacts: Print media: Sophie Wilkinson, 202/872-4443 (office), [email protected] Broadcast media: Theresa Laranang-Mutlu, 202/872-4371 (office), [email protected] For a copy of the full article: Sally Pecor, 202/872-4451 (office), [email protected] # # # #
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News Summary
SMOKE CLEARS IN MEDICAL MYSTERY INVOLVING -CAROTENE, SMOKERS

In non-smokers, carotenoids jack up efficiency of antioxidants

Like beta-carotene, antioxidants such as vitamins C and E are thought to prevent cancer and other diseases. But researchers have been puzzled by the apparent link between beta-carotene and an increased risk of lung cancer in heavy smokers, as reported recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. Research to be published in the Jan. 22 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society appears to clear up this mystery. In work funded by the American Institute for Cancer Research, Dr. George Truscott of Keele University in the U.K. and his colleagues found that beta-carotene and other carotenoids (especially lycopene, the red colorant in tomatoes) provide their health benefits by enhancing the antioxidant efficiency of vitamins C and E.

However, smokers suffer from abnormally low levels of vitamin C. This could explain the possible harmful effects of carotenoids in smokers. Truscott explains that smokers' vitamin C deficiency may permit a potentially damaging form of beta-carotene, known as a carotene free radical, to accumulate. All is not lost, though. The researchers found that vitamin C can remove such -carotene free radicals, suggesting that vitamin C dietary supplementation should accompany carotene supplementation, especially in smokers.

"The cooperative antioxidant properties of vitamins C and E with - carotene are much better understood as a result of this work," says Truscott. "Such information should have a bearing on recommendations for nutrient antioxidant intake designed to achieve optimum disease prevention in smokers and non-smokers alike."

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