2.3. Primary and Secondary Outcomes
BLOOD
Participants were instructed to consume tablets provided by Pfizer-GSK Consumer Healthcare (now Haleon), which contained the MV/MM supplement or a matched placebo. These were provided in 90-count bottles that were sealed and coded without identifying marks as to their contents. Participants were advised to take one of the assigned tablets every day with or without a meal. The primary study endpoint of this trial was to assess the change in metabolic function, primarily by measuring the oxygen consumption rate in isolated PBMCs.To measure these outcomes, participants provided fasting overnight blood samples before and at the end of the supplementation period. As described in detail in the Plasma carotenoids (retinol, β-carotene, lycopene, lutein) and vitamins K and E (α-tocopherol) were analyzed using a Xevo MS/MS mass spectrometer (Waters Xevo TQD, Milford, MA, USA) housed in LPI’s Analytical Services Core laboratory and quantitated using authentic standards: α-tocopherol acetate and carotenoids for vitamin E and carotenoids [Blood micronutrient concentrations were used to identify status categories, specifically deficiency and suboptimal status (and inadequacies in the case of calcidiol), as defined in previous reports [For studies associated with mitochondrial metabolic assessment, PBMCs were isolated from 40 mL of heparinized whole blood within 4 h of collection. High-resolution OParticipants were also asked to complete a dietary recall questionnaire as part of the assessment of their nutritional status. The Block Brief Food Frequency Questionnaire (Block-FFQ) provided by NutritionQuest.com (Berkeley, CA, USA) was made available to participants online or in paper format midway through the study. Participants were instructed to answer the survey based on their typical consumption of food items. The data from this survey are presented in a truncated report focusing on micronutrient and macronutrient intake in 