α-Carotene is a phytochemincal
in the class of Carotenes, belonging to the group of Carotenoids
(tetraterpenoids), found abundantly in carrots, pumpkins, maize,
tangerine, orange, etc.
Health Benefits
1. head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)
In
the comparison of plasma carotenoids (i.e., biomarkers of fruits and
vegetables intake) and tocopherols in 29 head and neck squamous cell
carcinoma (HNSCC) patients
found that a significant positive association between postradiotherapy plasma carotenoids (lutein, alpha-carotene,
and beta-carotene) and progression-free survival in these patients.
This study indicates that increasing postradiotherapy plasma carotenoid
concentration may reduce risk of premature death or recurrence of tumor
in HNSCC patients, according to "Postradiotherapy plasma lutein, alpha-carotene, and beta-carotene are positively associated with survival in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma" by Sakhi AK, Bøhn SK, Smeland S, Thoresen M, Smedshaug GB, Tausjø J, Svilaas A, Karlsen A, Russnes KM, Svilaas T, Blomhoff R.(1)
2. Alzheimer's disease
In
the determination of an association between vascular
comorbidities/vascular risk factors and plasma levels of antioxidant
micronutrients in patients with AD.Patients. A neuropsychological
assessment (Mini-Mental State Examination, MMSE;
Clock drawing test; DemTect) and the measurement of plasma levels of
lipophilic micronutrients including retinol (vitamin
A), α-tocopherol (vitamin E), lutein, zeaxanthin,
β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, α-carotene and β-carotene by
HPLC found that the depletion of circulating antioxidant
micronutrients observed in AD patients is associated with vascular
comorbidities and risk factors. The vascular comorbidities of patients
with AD should also be identified in light of the presence and degree
of depletion of the antioxidant defense system of the organism. This
might lead to a better lifestyle-related counselling of patients with
AD and their caregivers, with possible positive preventive effects on
worsening in the long run, according to "[Influence
of vascular comorbidities on the antioxidant
defense system in Alzheimer's disease].[Article in German]" by Polidori MC, Stahl W, De Spirt S, Pientka L.(2)
3. Age-related macular degeneration
In
the investigation of the association between serum concentrations of
carotenoids and the presence of AMD was evaluated in a case-control
sample of elderly Chinese subjects, found that Serum levels of
carotenoids and retinol were significantly lower in the cases with
exudative AMD than in the controls. Median levels of lutein and
zeaxanthin were 0.538 and 0.101 μM, respectively, in the control
subjects, and 0.488 and 0.076 μM, respectively, in cases with exudative
AMD. After adjustment for age, sex, smoking status, and body mass index
(BMI), a significant inverse association was observed for exudative
AMD with serum zeaxanthin (relative risk ratio [RRR], 0.04; 95%
confidence interval [CI], 0-0.35), lycopene (RRR, 0.22; 95% CI,
0.1-0.48), and α-carotene (RRR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.12-0.51). Early AMD was
inversely associated only with lycopene (RRR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.28-0.86)
but was positively associated with α-carotene (RRR, 2.22; 95% CI,
1.37-3.58). No significant associations were observed between serum
lutein and cases with early or exudative AMD, according to "Serum carotenoids and risk of age-related macular degeneration in a chinese population sample" by Zhou H, Zhao X, Johnson EJ, Lim A, Sun E, Yu J, Zhang Y, Liu X, Snellingen T, Shang F, Liu N.(3)
4. Mortality risk
In
the investigation of to whether serum carotenoid concentrations predict
mortality among US adults. The study consisted of adults aged ≥20
years enrolled in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey, 1988 to 1994, with measured serum carotenoids and mortality
follow-up through 2006 (N = 13,293), indicated that in a random
survival forest analysis, very low lycopene was the carotenoid most
strongly predictive of all-cause mortality, followed by very low total
carotenoids. α-Carotene/β-cryptoxanthin, α-carotene/lutein+zeaxanthin
and lycopene/lutein+zeaxanthin interactions were significantly related
to all-cause mortality (P < .05). Low α-carotene was the only
carotenoid associated with cardiovascular disease mortality (P = .002).
No carotenoids were significantly associated with cancer mortality,
according to "Low-serum carotenoid
concentrations and carotenoid interactions predict mortality in US
adults: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey" by Shardell MD, Alley DE, Hicks GE, El-Kamary SS, Miller RR, Semba RD, Ferrucci L.(4)
5. Metabolic syndrome
In
the examination of the association between serum antioxidant status and
MetS. NHANES 2001-2006 cross-sectional data among adults aged 20-85 y
were analyzed (n = 3008-9099). MetS was defined with the National
Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III)
and also by elevated homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance
(HOMA-IR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and hyperuricemia, found that Serum
antioxidants included retinol, retinyl esters, carotenoids
[α-carotene, β-carotene (cis+trans), β-cryptoxanthin, lutein+zeaxanthin,
total lycopene], vitamin E, and vitamin C. MetS (NCEP ATP III)
prevalence in U.S. adults was 32.0% among men and 29.5% among women.
Adults with MetS had consistently lower serum carotenoid concentrations
compared with those without MetS, even after controlling for total
cholesterol and TG among other potential confounders, according to "Serum antioxidant status is associated with metabolic syndrome among U.S. adults in recent national surveys" by Beydoun MA, Shroff MR, Chen X, Beydoun HA, Wang Y, Zonderman AB.(5)
6. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
In
the assessment of the role of vitamins, as assessed either by food
frequency questionnaires or measured in serum levels, have been
reported to improve pulmonary function, reduce exacerbations and
improve symptoms, found that various vitamins (vitamin C, D, E, A, beta
and alpha carotene)
are associated with improvement in features of COPD such as symptoms,
exacerbations and pulmonary function. High vitamin intake would
probably reduce the annual decline of FEV1, according to "A systematic review of the role of vitamin insufficiencies and supplementation in COPD" by Tsiligianni IG, van der Molen T.(6)
7. Antiproliferation effect
In
the evaluation of a preparative column chromatographic method for
isolation of carotenoids and chlorophylls from Gynostemma pentaphyllum,
a traditional Chinese herb for their antiproliferative effects on the
hepatoma cell Hep3B, found that both carotenoid (all-trans- and
cis-isomers of lutein, α-carotene, and β-carotene as well as
epoxy-containing carotenoids) and chlorophyll fractions as well as
lutein and chlorophyll a standards at 50-100 μg/mL were effective
against Hep3B cells with a dose-dependent response with the following
order: carotenoid fraction > chlorophyll
fraction > lutein > chlorophyll a. For all treatments, the cell
cycle was arrested in the G₀/G₁ phase, with Hep3B cells undergoing
necrosis or apoptosis, according to "Preparation
of carotenoids and chlorophylls from Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.)
Makino and their antiproliferation effect on hepatoma cell" by Tsai YC, Wu WB, Chen BH.(7)
8. Squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL)
In
the assessment of a nested case-control study of 265 HPV-positive women
(93 SIL cases and 172 cytologically normal controls) in the
Ludwig-McGill Cohort Study, São Paulo, Brazil, found that higher
reported consumption of papaya was inversely associated with risk of
SIL (p trend=0.01) and strongest for >or=1 time/week (adjusted odds
ratios (AORs)=0.19; 95%CI, 0.08-0.49). Risk of SIL was reduced among
women reporting consumption of oranges >or=1 time/week (AOR=0.32;
95%CI, 0.12-0.87; p-trend=0.02). Nutrient intakes of ss-cryptoxanthin
and alpha-carotene were marginally protective against SIL, according to "Dietary consumption of antioxidant nutrients and risk of incident cervical intraepithelial neoplasia" by Siegel EM, Salemi JL, Villa LL, Ferenczy A, Franco EL, Giuliano AR.(8)
9. Gastric cancer
In
the consideration of several micronutrients and minerals in an Italian
case-control study conducted between 1997 and 2007, including 230
patients with incident, histologically confirmed gastric cancer and 547
matched controls, admitted with acute conditions,
found that decreased ORs for the highest versus lowest quartile of vitamin E (OR=0.50), alpha-carotene
(OR=0.52) and beta-carotene (OR=0.42) intake. Gastric cancer was
directly associated with sodium, with ORs of 2.22 for the second, 2.56
for the third and 2.46 for the fourth quartile of intake. No significant
relation emerged with iron, calcium, potassium, zinc, vitamin C,
thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin D, retinol,
beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and lutein plus zeaxanthin, according to "Dietary intake of selected micronutrients and gastric cancer risk: an Italian case-control study" by Pelucchi C, Tramacere I, Bertuccio P, Tavani A, Negri E, La Vecchia C.(9)
10. Pancreatic carcinogenesis
In
the consideration of the role of 15 selected vitamins and carotenoids
and 6 minerals on pancreatic cancer risk in an Italian case-control
study, found that comparing the highest to the lowest quintile of
intake, the OR were 0.60 (95% CI 0.36-0.98) for vitamin E, 0.44 (95% CI
0.27-0.73) for vitamin C, 0.56 (95% CI 0.34-0.93) for folate, and 0.57
(95% CI 0.35-0.92) for potassium. No significant inverse associations
were observed for α-carotene (OR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.43-1.12), β-carotene
(OR = 0.64, 95% CI 0.39-1.06), and β-cryptoxanthin (OR = 0.66, 95% CI
0.39-1.09). No relation was found for other micronutrients considered.
Our findings support a favorable role of vitamins E and C, selected
carotenoids, and folate on pancreatic carcinogenesis, according to "Dietary intake of selected micronutrients and the risk of pancreatic cancer: an Italian case-control study" by Bravi F, Polesel J, Bosetti C, Talamini R, Negri E, Dal Maso L, Serraino D, La Vecchia C.(10)
11. Benign prostatic hyperplasia
In
the analyzing the relationship between surgically treated benign
prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and intake of selected micronutrients, found
that the risk of BPH significantly decreased with increasing intake of
carotene (OR=0.80 for an increment equal to the difference between the
80th and 20th percentile of intake), alpha-carotene
(OR=0.83), beta-carotene (OR=0.82), and cis beta-carotene (OR=0.82)
and tended to decrease with the intake of vitamin C (OR=0.89) and iron
(OR=0.79), according to "Intake of
selected micronutrients and the risk of surgically treated benign
prostatic hyperplasia: a case-control study from Italy" by Tavani A, Longoni E, Bosetti C, Maso LD, Polesel J, Montella M, Ramazzotti V, Negri E, Franceschi S, La Vecchia C.(11)
12. Prostate cancer
In
the consideration of the association between retinol and various
carotenoids using data from a multicentric case-control study conducted
in Italy between 1991 and 2002, found that the risk of prostate cancer
tended to decrease with increasing intake of retinol (OR=0.79 for the
highest versus the lowest quintile of intake), carotene (OR=0.70), alpha-carotene
(OR=0.85) and beta-carotene (OR=0.72), although the estimates were
significant for carotene and beta-carotene only. No meaningful
associations emerged for nonprovitamin A carotenoids, such as lycopene
(OR=0.94) and lutein/zeaxanthin (OR=0.91), according to "Retinol, carotenoids and the risk of prostate cancer: a case-control study from Italy" by Bosetti C, Talamini R, Montella M, Negri E, Conti E, Franceschi S, La Vecchia C.(12)
13. Breast cancer
In
the assessment of Carotenoids antioxidant and antiproliferative
properties in reducing the risk of breast cancer, found that dietary alpha-carotene
and beta-carotene were inversely associated with the risk of
ER-PR-breast cancer among ever smokers. Among ever smokers, the
multivariable relative risks of ER-PR-breast cancer comparing the
highest with the lowest quintile of intake were 0.32 (95% confidence
interval (CI): 0.11-0.94; P(trend)=0.01) for alpha-carotene
and 0.35 (95% CI: 0.12-0.99; P(trend)=0.03) for beta-carotene. The
risk of breast cancer also decreased with increasing intakes of alpha-carotene (P(trend) = 0.02) and beta-carotene (P(trend)=0.01) among women who did not use dietary supplements, according to "Dietary carotenoids and risk of hormone receptor-defined breast cancer in a prospective cohort of Swedish women" by Larsson SC, Bergkvist L, Wolk A.(13)
14. Etc.
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Sources
(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20358469
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22318842
(3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21508112
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21481711
(5) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21451127
(6) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21134250
(7) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20946022
(8) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20691333
(9) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18669867
(10) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20530201
(11) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16442205
(12) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15382052
(13) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20116235
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