Inter-relationship between serum retinol and alpha-tocopherol levels in Dhaka University students

The relationship between serum retinol and alpha-tocopherol levels of 100 students (aged from 21-30 years) of the University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh, was investigated. Further, the associations of these two vitamins with some selected personal characteristics were also studied. Males had a significantly higher level of serum retinol and a lower level of alphatocopherol than females. No significant difference was observed between age groups either for serum retinol or alpha-tocopherol levels. No differences were noted for marital status, residential status and per capita expenditure on food. A positive correlation was observed between serum retinol and alpha-tocopherol levels for males (r = 0.34; P ≤ 0.035) and females (r = 0.32; P ≤ 0.01) separately. The multiple correlation coefficient between serum retinol and all other variables of the study was R = 0.55 and adjusted R2 was 0.25 (P = 0.000). In the case of alpha-tocopherol the multiple R and adjusted R2 were 0.52 and 0.22 (P = 0.000) respectively. The findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between the serum levels of retinol and alpha-tocopherol even after adjustments have been made for the effect of personal factors.