Introduction Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated that carotenoid relate inversely to cardiovascular disease incidence. However few studies have been conducted on the relationship between circulating antioxidant vitamins and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), a biomarker of cardiac function and heart failure, in the general population. The aim of this study was to investigate whether circulating antioxidant vitamins were independently related to NT-pro-BNP in a general Japanese population.

Methods Subjects were 1056 inhabitants (390 men and 666 women, mean age: 60.3±10.5 years) of Japan, who attended health check-up examinations from 2003 to 2004. Serum levels of carotenoids, retinol and tocopherols were separately determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Serum NT-proBNP levels were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay.

Results Geometric mean of serum NT-proBNP was significantly higher in women than in men (53.1 vs 39.1 pg/ml, p<0.001). Partial correlation analysis, adjusting for age, smoking habits, drinking habits, serum triglyceride levels, haemoglobin A1c, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, and estimated glomerular filtration rate, revealed a significant association between serum NT-proBNP levels and serum levels of retinol (r=−0.157, p<0.001), canthaxanthin (r=−0.142, p<0.001), lycopene (r=−0.106, p=0.007), α-carotene (r=−0.103, p=0.009), and β-carotene (r=−0.086, p=0.028) in women. In men, serum levels of antioxidant vitamins were not significantly related with serum NT-proBNP levels.

Conclusion Serum levels of retinol and several carotenoids were inversely associated with serum NT-proBNP levels even after adjustment for possible confounding factors in Japanese women, whereas no significant association was observed in Japanese men.