Effect of UV exposure and beta-carotene supplementation on delayed-type hypersensitivity response in healthy older men.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to determine if ultraviolet light (UV) is immunosuppressive in healthy older males, if beta-carotene (betaC) supplementation could prevent any observed UV-induced immunosuppression, and to compare these effects with those observed previously in younger men. METHODS: The study was a placebo-controlled, randomized trial that employed a 2 x 2 factorial design. Healthy older men (mean age 65.5 years) received 30 mg betaC or placebo daily throughout the 47-day trial, while on a low carotenoid diet. After 28 days, half of each group received 12 suberythemic exposures to UV over a 16-day period. Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) tests and plasma carotenoid assays were performed at baseline, pre-UV and post-UV time points, with DTH testing performed on an area of skin protected from UV exposure. RESULTS: UV exposure resulted in significantly suppressed DTH response in the placebo group but not in the betaC-UV group. While there was no significant interaction between betaC supplementation and UV on DTH response, there was a significant inverse relationship between final plasma betaC concentration and extent of UV-induced suppression of DTH response. A similar correlation existed among subjects not exposed to UV. CONCLUSIONS: Suberythemic UV exposure was immunosuppressive, as measured by DTH response, in healthy older men as in younger men. Higher plasma betaC was significantly associated with maintenance of DTH response, although the extent of protective effect of betaC appeared less than previously observed in younger subjects. The attenuated effect of betaC in the older UV-exposed subjects may have resulted in part from muted plasma betaC responses to betaC supplementation and/or higher plasma vitamin E levels than those of younger men. The finding that stronger DTH responses were associated with higher plasma betaC concentrations in both UV and non-UV subjects further supports a role for this nutrient in immunomodulation.

Quality of life in schizophrenia: Long-term follow-up in 362 chronic Spanish schizophrenic outpatients undergoing risperidone maintenance treatment.

Our aim was to determine the effect of risperidone monotherapy treatment on disability and on the quality of life of 318 schizophrenic outpatients who had been previously treated with other neuroleptics. Patients were assessed at baseline 2, 4 and 8 months using the BPRS, CGI, WHO/DDS and SF-36. BPRS scores showed a significant decrease at month 2, both in the total score and in each of the three clusters, negative, positive and depression/anxiety. WHO/DDS scores significantly decreased both in the overall score (from 51.8 to 37.4, P < 0.0001) and in the four dimensions. SF-36 scale scores and summary measures showed a significant improvement after 8 months of risperidone treatment. Risperidone long-term treatment (8 months) has a positive effect on clinical and on psychosocial outcomes. Females, paranoids patients and patients without history of use-abuse of substances showed greater improvements in quality of life.

Evidence of a role for fat-free body mass in modulation of plasma carotenoid concentrations in older men: studies with hydrodensitometry.

We examined the relationship between body composition and changes in plasma carotenoid concentration in response to dietary carotenoid restriction or beta-carotene (betaC) supplementation in healthy older men. Subjects (mean age 65 y) were assigned randomly to supplement (30 mg betaC/d) or placebo groups, and all subjects consumed a standard low carotenoid basal diet plus 1.5 mg betaC/d as carrots. Body composition was measured at baseline by hydrodensitometry, and plasma carotenoids were measured at baseline and after 28 d of treatment by HPLC. Baseline plasma total carotenoid concentration was significantly and negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and fat-free mass (FFM) but not with fat mass, whereas baseline betaC concentration was negatively associated with all three variables. The increase in plasma betaC concentration in response to betaC supplementation was significantly and inversely correlated with BMI and FFM but not with fat mass. Likewise, the decline in plasma total carotenoid concentration in the placebo group was also significantly and inversely related to BMI and FFM but not to fat mass. Thus, FFM seems to be an important determinant of plasma carotenoid concentrations and to explain a substantial portion of the often-observed relationship between BMI and blood carotenoid levels. Fat-free mass seems to represent a dynamic reservoir that dampens short-term changes in plasma carotenoid concentrations during fluctuation in carotenoid intake.