The Betasnp2 Study: Effect of Beta-Carotene Formulation and Rs6564851 on Beta-Carotene Plasma Responses

A human dietary intervention study was conducted to compare whether 3 different β-carotene formulations, all at the maximum recommended dose of 7 mg/d, can overcome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) effects upstream of the β-carotene 15,15′-dioxygenase (BCO1) enzyme. Healthy female subjects were randomly assigned to ingest β-carotene formulation ”A” (n = 28), ”B” (n = 28) or ”C” (n = 29) in a capsule containing 7 mg of beta-carotene every day with the evening meal for a total period of 54 days. Fasting blood samples were drawn at days 1, 4, 36 and 46 and analysed for carotenoid and retinol concentrations by HPLC. All formulations significantly increased plasma β-carotene concentrations by day 36 (Fig A). Supplementation with formulation ”A” increased plasma β-carotene concentrations 2.5 fold compared with an increase of 1.9 fold with formulations “B” and “C” (Fig 1A). Irrespective of formulation, individuals with the GG genotype of rs6564851 possessed significantly higher β-carotene concentrations than those with GT (Fig. 1B). Figure 1: β-carotene supplementation increases plasma β-carotene concentrations depending on formulation (A) and rs6564851 genotype (B). In summary, β-carotene plasma responses can be greatly influenced by β-carotene formulation. However, individuals with the T-allele maintain a lower plasma β-carotene concentration compared to those of the GG genotype of rs6564851 despite overall higher plasma β-carotene concentration after supplementations. This study was funded by DSM Nutritional Products.