Table 5. Comparison of serum levels of carotenoids, α-tocopherol and retinol among the study groups.

Items (µmol/l)	High HbA1c	Healthy 1	p	DM	Healthy 2	p
β-carotene	0.87	1.24	***	1.14	1.21
	(0.28-2.39)	(0.45-3.29)		(0.41-3.46)	(0.47-3.09)
α-carotene	0.10	0.13	***	0.12	0.12
	(0.04-0.22)	(0.05-0.31)		(0.05-0.32)	(0.05-0.28)
Lycopene	0.38	0.46	*	0.50	0.45
	(0.14-1.02)	(0.17-1.23)		(0.17-1.25)	(0.16-1.23)
β-cryptoxanthin	0.20	0.26	***	0.21	0.25	*
	(0.08-0.42)	(0.10-0.63)		(0.08-0.48)	(0.10-0.59)
Zeaxanthin & Lutein	0.97	1.17	***	1.10	1.11
	(0.56-1.63)	(0.62-1.58)		(0.57-2.01)	(0.57-1.87)
Canthaxanthin	0.02	0.02		0.02	0.02
	(0.010-0.037)	(0.010-0.044)		(0.010-0.040)	(0.010-0.043)
α-tocopherol	29.22	27.60		28.92	26.92
	(19.83-46.08)	(20.24-39.21)		(20.31-42.32)	(19.28-38.14)
Retinol	3.13	2.98		3.02	2.91
	(2.18-4.46)	(2.13-4.05)		(2.08-4.10)	(2.00-4.05)

High HbA1c: the subjects with no history of diabetes mellitus with HbA_1c values of 5.6% or more.

DM: the subjects with history of diabetes mellitus.

Healthy 1: the healthy control group for High HbA_1c group, Healthy 2: the healthy control group for DM group.

Data represented as geometric mean and range of 10-90% in parentheses.

p: t test (log-transformed )

*: p<0.05, ***: p<0.001