Atherosclerosis 208 (2010) 581–586 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Atherosclerosis journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/atherosclerosis Independent inverse relationship between serum lycopene concentration and arterial stiffness Oh Yoen Kim a,b,c,1 , Hyun Yang Yoe a,b,c,1 , Hyae Jin Kim a , Ju Yeon Park a,d , Ji Young Kim a,c , Sang-Hak Lee c,e , Jin Hee Lee f , Kang Pyo Lee f , Yangsoo Jang b,c,e,g , Jong Ho Lee a,b,c,d,∗ a National Research Laboratory for Clinical Nutrigenetics/Nutrigenomics, Department of Food and Nutrition, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea b Interdisciplinary Course of Science for Aging, Graduate School, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea c Yonsei University Research Institute of Science for Aging, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea d Department of Food and Nutrition, Brain Korea 21 Project, College of Human Ecology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea e Division of Cardiology, School of Medicine, Yonsei University Severance Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea f CJ Food R& D, CJ Corp. Seoul, Republic of Korea g Cardiovascular Genome Center, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea article info Article history: Received 7 June 2009 Received in revised form 18 July 2009 Accepted 6 August 2009 Available online 13 August 2009 Keywords: Lycopene Arterial stiffness Branchial-ankle pulse wave velocity Oxidative stress Inflammation abstract Objective: Emerging evidence suggests a role of lycopene in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to investigate the association of serum lycopene concentration with brachial- ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), a marker of arterial stiffness and markers of oxidative stress and inflammation. Methods: healthy women (n = 264, 31–75 yrs) were classified into tertiles according to serum lycopene concentration. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between serum lycopene and baPWV. Results: Subjects in middle tertile (T2) and upper tertile (T3) had lower baPWV (1263 ± 23 and 1265 ± 14 cm/s vs. 1338 ± 21 cm/s; p = 0.009) and lower oxidized LDL (oxLDL) (53 ± 3 and 55 ± 3 U/L vs. 66 ± 3U/L; p < 0.001) than those in lower tertile (T1). Subjects in T3 showed higher LDL particle size (24.3 ± 0.08 nm vs. 24.0 ± 0.07 nm, p = 0.005) and lower C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (0.80 ± 0.25 mg/dL vs. 1.27 ± 0.24 mg/dL, p = 0.015), compared with those in T1. Logistic regression analysis showed that baPWV decreased with the increment of lycopene concentration; log baPWV decreased by 0.21 cm/s (95% CI -0.168;-0.045, p = 0.001) per unit change in lycopene. After adjustment for age, BMI, smoking, drinking, menopause and blood pressure, the estimated effect was attenuated by 35%, but remained sta- tistically significant [-0.13 cm/s (95% CI -0.112;-0.018, p = 0.006)]. Further adjustment for -carotene, -tocopherol, oxLDL, LDL particle size, and hs-CRP increased the strength of the association [ˇ = -0.221 (95% CI -0.215;-0.012, p = 0.029)]. Conclusion: This study supports the presence of an independent inverse relationship between circulating lycopene and baPWV. Additionally, reduced oxidative modification of LDL may be one of mediators on the mechanisms how lycopene reduces arterial stiffness. © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Lycopene is the most predominant carotenoid in human plasma and found to concentrate in low-density and very-low-density frac- tions of the serum [1,2]. Lycopene is known as the most powerful antioxidant among major carotenoids detected in human tissues or blood [1] and it may have a inhibitory effect on cholesterol synthe- ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Food and Nutrition, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 2123 3122; fax: +82 2 364 9605. E-mail address: jhleeb@yonsei.ac.kr (J.H. Lee). 1 These two authors equally contributed to the work. sis which may enhance LDL degradation [3,4]. Dietary intervention studies involving either lycopene-containing foods or lycopene supplementation have shown potential short-term improvement in LDL oxidation [4,5]. Low concentration of serum lycopene has been associated with increased intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid artery wall and suggested to play a protective role against the development of atherosclerosis [6,7]. Riccioni et al. [8] reported that people with higher carotid IMT (≥0.8 mm) had lower levels of lycopene and higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a gen- eral inflammatory marker than those without evidence of carotid atheroscerlosis among participants in asymptomatic with respect to carotid artery disease in the ACADIM Study. However, the results on the studies for the relationship between lycopene and early 0021-9150/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2009.08.009