These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: The lower vitamin C plasma concentrations in elderly men compared with elderly women can partly be attributed to a volumetric dilution effect due to differences in fat-free mass.
    Author: Jungert A, Neuhäuser-Berthold M.
    Journal: Br J Nutr; 2015 Mar 14; 113(5):859-64. PubMed ID: 25735881.
    Abstract:
    Women show higher vitamin C plasma concentrations than men, but the reasons for this observation still require elucidation. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether sex differences in vitamin C plasma concentrations are present in elderly subjects and whether these differences are due to sex-specific lifestyles, total antioxidant status (TAOS) and/or body composition. Fasting plasma concentrations of vitamin C were assessed by photometric detection in a cross-sectional study of 181 women and eighty-nine men aged 62-92 years. Body composition was determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Vitamin C intake was assessed with a 3 d estimated dietary record. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed to investigate whether sex is an independent predictor of vitamin C plasma concentrations by controlling for age, vitamin C intake, lifestyle factors, TAOS and body composition. Women showed higher vitamin C plasma concentrations than men (76 v. 62 μmol/l, P< 0·0001). In the multiple regression analysis, male sex was a negative predictor of vitamin C plasma concentrations (β = -0·214), as long as absolute fat-free mass (FFM) was not considered as a confounder. When absolute FFM was included, sex was no longer a predictor of vitamin C plasma concentrations, whereas absolute FFM (β = -0·216), physical activity level (β = 0·165), intake of vitamin C supplements (β = 0·164), age (β = 0·147) and smoking (β = -0·125) affected vitamin C plasma concentrations. The results indicate that a higher absolute FFM, and thus a higher distribution volume of vitamin C, contributes to lower vitamin C plasma concentrations in men than women.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]