Retinol, a-Tocopherol, Lutein/Zeaxanthin, /3-Cryptoxanthin, Lycopene, a-Carotene, trans-p-Carotene, and Four Retinyl Esters in Serum Determined Simultaneously by Reversed-Phase H PLC with M ultiwavelength Detection

We describe the use of HPLC with muitiwavelength detection to measure retinol, a-tocopherol, Iutein/zeaxanthin, f3-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, a-carotene, trans-p-carotene, /3-carotene, and the linoleate, oleate, palmitate, and stearate esters of retinol in a single 200L serum sample. The method is sensitive enough to detect individual retinyl esters in fasting serum from a nonhyperlipidemic population and requires only 12 mm for each sample. Serum concentration ranges and means are reported for retinol, a-tocopherol, lutein/zeaxanthin, /3-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, a-carotene, trans-/3-carotene, and the sum of the retinyl esters from serum analyses of 3480 participants from several different studies.