Effect of Dietary β-Carotene on the Survival of Young and Old Mice

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Abstract
Feeding 0.5% β-carotene in the diet for life beginning at 29 days of age improved the average life span of C57BL/6J male mice by 5.0% but decreased the life span of mice started at 608 days of age by 11.5%. Neither difference, however, proved to be statistically significant. Feeding β-carotene increased the concentration of β-carotene in the serum by 60% but did not change the β-carotene content of heart, liver or kidney. We conclude that singlet oxygen, which is very efficiently quenched by β-carotene, is an important factor in senescence only if it is produced at organ sites not accessible to serum β-carotene. Since we have found that β-carotene feeding is not a useful means for increasing tissue concentrations of β-carotene, other more sophisticated means must be developed for accomplishing this purpose. It is also clear that while dietary β-carotene is not an effective means for prolonging life span, it is nontoxic when fed continuously at high concentrations.