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Lack of Effects of Beta‐Carotene on Lipids and Sex Steroid Hormones in Hyperlipidemics

Beta-carotene in doses of up to 300 mg daily raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels within 2 to 4 weeks in healthy subjects. The authors, in this study, investigate the short-term effects of high-dose beta-carotene upon serum lipids, lipoproteins, and selected sex steroid hormones in 59 adult patients with Type IIa or IIb hyperlipidemia and 36 healthy subjects. Volunteers took beta-carotene (300 mg) or wheat germ oil capsules daily for 30 days. Lipids were measured on days 1, 14, 21, and 30. Betacarotene, retinol, free and total testosterone, and estradiol levels were measured on days 1 and 30. Total high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels increased 10% (p < 0.01) over baseline in all groups by day 14 but returned to baseline by day 30. Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride levels transiently increased between days 14 and 21 by up to 9%, 8%, and 20%, respectively, only in the patients with hyperlipidemia treated with beta-carotene, but returned to baseline on day 30. Apolipoproteins A and B were unchanged. Despite 20-fold increases of plasma beta-carotene levels there, were no reports of carotenodermia and no alteration in sex steroid hormones, retinol levels, hepatic transaminases, or persistent changes in serum lipids that were attributable to beta-carotene.