Relationship of vitamin A and vitamin E intake to fasting plasma retinol, retinol-binding protein, retinyl esters, carotene, alpha-tocopherol, and cholesterol among elderly people and young adults: increased plasma retinyl esters among vitamin A-supplement users

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Abstract
We studied the relationships of supplemental and total vitamin A and supplemental vitamin E intake with fasting plasma biochemical indicators of vitamin A and vitamin E nutritional status among 562 healthy elderly people (aged 60–98 y) and 194 healthy young adult (aged 19–59 y) volunteers. All subjects were nonsmokers. For the young adults, plasma retinol was significantly greater in males than in females (p less than 0.01); retinol was not related to supplemental vitamin A intake for either group. Fasting plasma retinyl esters demonstrated a significant increase with vitamin A supplement use. For supplemental vitamin A intakes of 5001–10,000 IU/d, a 2.5-fold increase over nonusers in fasting plasma retinyl esters was observed for elderly people (p less than 0.05) and a 1.5-fold increase for young adults (p greater than 0.20). For elderly people, greater fasting plasma retinyl esters were associated with long-term vitamin A supplement use (greater than 5 y) and biochemical evidence of liver damage. Elderly people who take vitamin A supplements may be at increased risk for vitamin A overload.