Biomarkers of exposure to vitamins A, C, and E and their relation to lipid and protein oxidation markers.

Since antioxidant vitamins may affect an organism's capacity for defence against reactive oxygen species, biological markers of the dietary exposure to these vitamins is of importance. There is also a need of effect biomarkers for determining the ability of these and other antioxidants to increase the overall antioxidant capacity and decrease the oxidative damage occurring in biological samples. This review is concerned with exposure markers and markers of lipid- or protein damage following intervention with vitamins A, C and E. While there are several high quality exposure markers available it is not possible to identify functional markers of lipid or protein oxidation, which respond reliably to human dietary intervention with vitamins A, C or E.