In reply
We thank Anand and colleagues for their comments. The Basel study did not detect any associations between antioxidant levels and ischemic heart disease mortality after 8 years of follow-up. However, low plasma carotenoid concentrations ultimately were associated with increased risk for ischemic heart disease mortality after 12 years of follow-up, as pointed out by Anand and colleagues. The study measured antioxidant levels only at baseline, and could not adjust for subsequent changes in nutrient intake or cardiovascular risk factors.The 12-year results of the Basel study, however, are supported by other more-recent reports, eg, a recent analysis of the Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial and Follow-up Study.1 These investigators found that serum carotenoid levels were inversely associated with the risk of coronary heart disease events. Men whose serum carotenoid concentrations were in the highest quartile were found to have an adjusted relative risk of 0.64