Plasma tocopherol levels in normal adults

Abstract

A study of plasma tocopherol levels of 379 normal adult human subjects residing in metropolitan Vancouver and in the nearby rural community of Chilliwack was conducted. The plasma tocopherol values ranged from 0.38 to 2.28 mg/100 ml and averaged 0.97 ± 0.29 mg/100 ml. No significant differences were found between men and women and between city and rural populations. However, statistically significant differences were observed between tocopherol values of various age groups studied. It was also recognized that on an average, plasma tocopherol levels of university students were significantly lower than those found for the rest of the population. About 5.9% of the university students and 1.1% of the other subjects had tocopherol values below the generally accepted deficiency level of 0.5 mg/100 ml.