Letter to the editor
An update on the potential health benefits of carotenes
Jae Kwang Kim1
1Division of Life Sciences, College of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, 406-772, Korea
EXCLI J 2016;15:Doc1
Dear Editor,
Carotenes, which are yellow-orange pigments, are a class of related organic compounds classified as hydrocarbons, more specifically as terpenoids, with the molecular formula C40H56. Plants, fungi, and photosynthetic bacteria synthesize carotenes, while animals must obtain them as a dietary nutrient (Vrolijk et al., 2015[30]). Plants are capable of synthesizing several isomers of carotene. Alpha-carotene (α-carotene) and beta-carotene (β-carotene) are the two primary isomers found in plants; other carotene isomers found in plants are gamma-, delta-, epsilon-, and zeta-carotene (γ, δ, ε, and ζ-carotene) (Hammond and Renzi, 2013[9]). β-Carotene is the most common form of carotene in plants and can be found in yellow, orange, and green leafy vegetables and fruits. It is an important dietary resource and a precursor of vitamin A in humans (Haskell, 2012[12]; Tang, 2012[29]; Sommer and Vyas, 2012[28]).
Carotenes show a range of biological activity and health benefits for animals, making it an interesting material for the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics industries. We have reviewed the most recent studies on carotenes and its biological and pharmacological activities (Table 1(Tab. 1)) (References in Table 1: Li et al., 2015[17]; Freitas et al., 2015[7]; Sluijs et al., 2015[27]; Hashim et al., 2015[11]; Das et al., 2015[5]; Ben Amara et al., 2015[2]; Schnorr et al., 2014[25]; Fiorelli et al., 2014[6]; Lai et al., 2014[15]; Kasperczyk et al., 2014[13]; Lim et al., 2014[18]; Wang et al., 2014[31]; Kim et al., 2014[14]; Berti et al., 2014[3]; Gloria et al., 2014[8]; Orazizadeh et al., 2014[22]; Abdul-Hamid and Moustafa, 2014[1]; Nishida et al., 2014[21]; Harari et al., 2013[10]; Bjelakovic et al., 2013[4]; Lee et al., 2013[16]; Lin et al., 2013[20]; Rotenstreich et al., 2013[24]; Silva et al., 2013[26]; Lim et al., 2013[19]; Peng et al., 2013[23]).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Incheon National University Research Grant in 2013.
References
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Lim JY, Kim YS, Kim Y. β-carotene regulates the murine liver microenvironment of a metastatic neuroblastoma. J Cancer Prev. 2013;18:337-45.20.
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Peng HC, Chen YL, Yang SY, Ho PY, Yang SS, Hu JT, et al. The antiapoptotic effects of different doses of β-carotene in chronic ethanol-fed rats. Hepatobiliary Surg Nutr. 2013;2:132-41.24.
Rotenstreich Y, Belkin M, Sadetzki S, Chetrit A, Ferman-Attar G, Sher I, et al. Treatment with 9-cis β-carotene-rich powder in patients with retinitispigmentosa: a randomized crossover trial. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2013;131:985-92.25.
Schnorr CE, Morrone Mda S, Simões-Pires A, Bittencourt Lda S, Zeidán-Chuliá F, Moreira JC. Supplementation of adult rats with moderate amounts of β-carotene modulates the redox status in plasma without exerting pro-oxidant effects in the brain: a safer alternative to food fortification with vitamin A? Nutrients. 2014;6:5572-82.26.
Silva LS, de Miranda AM, de Brito Magalhães CL, Dos Santos RC, Pedrosa ML, Silva ME. Diet supplementation with beta-carotene improves the serum lipid profile in rats fed a cholesterol-enriched diet. J Physiol Biochem. 2013;69:811-20.27.
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Table 1: Recent studies on carotene and its biological and pharmacological activities