CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 163Immune Cell Function and InteractionAntioxidant Activity and Oxidative StressExercise and Physiological Responses

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 31 of the 31 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Natural killer cell activity in elderly men is enhanced by beta-carotene supplementation

Open access
Santos, MS, Meydani, SN, Leka, L, Wu, D, Fotouhi, N, Meydani, M, Hennekens, CH, Gaziano, JM·1996·The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
DOI 10.1093/ajcn/64.5.772
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Natural killer (NK) cell activity has been postulated to be an immunologic link between beta-carotene and cancer prevention. In a cross-sectional, placebo-controlled, double-blind study we examined the effect of 10-12 y of beta-carotene supplementation (50 mg on alternate days) on NK cell activity in 59 (38 middle-aged men, 51-64 y; 21 elderly men, 65-86 y) Boston area participants in the Physicians' Health Study. No significant difference was seen in NK cell activity due to beta-carotene supplementation in the middle-aged group. The elderly men had significantly lower NK cell activity than the middle-aged men; however, there was no age-associated difference in NK cell activity in men supplemented with beta-carotene. beta-carotene-supplemented elderly men had significantly greater NK cell activity than elderly men receiving placebo. The reason for this is unknown; however, it was not due to an increase in the percentage of NK cells, nor to an increase in interleukin 2 (IL-2) receptor expression, nor to IL-2 production. beta-carotene may be acting directly on one or more of the lytic stages of NK cell cytotoxicity, or on NK cell activity-enhancing cytokines other than IL-2, such as IL-12. Our results show that long-term beta-carotene supplementation enhances NK cell activity in elderly men, which may be beneficial for viral and tumoral surveillance.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/ajcn/64.5.772

Cites

31 of 31 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Bender, 1987, Natural killer cells in senescence: analysis of phenotypes and function., Rev Biol Res Aging, 3, 129
  2. Meydani, 1995, Effect of β-carotene (β-C) on the immune response of elderly women., FASEB J, 9

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 163

Related

See all

Metadata

Authors
Santos, M., Meydani, S., Leka, L., Wu, D., Fotouhi, N., Meydani, M., Hennekens, C., & Gaziano, J.
Affiliations
Tufts University (US)
ORCID
Wu, D
Venue
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1996-11
Volume
64
Issue
5
Pages
772-777
ISSN
0002-9165 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1093/ajcn/64.5.772
OpenAlex
W1867192595
Cited by
163
References
31
Citations by year
2025: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 6
FWCI
3.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (2t32ag000209-06)
  • National Institute on Aging (T32 AG 00209)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL-34595, HL 26490, R01HL034595)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune Cell Function and Interaction
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry (medical) › Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Exercise and Physiological Responses
Keywords
natural killer cells, beta-carotene supplementation, older men, age-related immune decline, NK cell cytotoxicity, interleukin-2 receptor, interleukin-2, IL-12, cancer prevention, viral surveillance, long-term supplementation
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Double-Blind Method, Food, Fortified, Humans, Immunity, Innate, Interleukin-2, Killer Cells, Natural, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Receptors, Interleukin-2, beta Carotene

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review