Antioxidant Lycopene in the Prevention and Treatment of Esophagitis

By Kyle J. Norton

Esophagitis or heartburn or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). is a condition characterized by the going back up of acidic stomach contents to the esophagus.

Most cases of esophagitis are happened immediately after eating causing a burning sensation or pain in the lower chest area.

According to the statistics, in the US, approximately, 20% of people with acid reflux will develop esophagitis.

 More than 65% of people who suffer from acid reflux are 40 years old or older. And, 15 to 30 5 of the U.S. population has esophagitis

There is no single cause of esophagitis. Epidemiologically, eating large meals or lying down right after a meal, snacking close to bedtime, smoking, being overweight or obese, overeating certain foods such as citrus, tomato, chocolate, mint, garlic, onions, or spicy or fatty foods are some prevalent factors associated with the risk of esophagitis

First-time pregnancy women may also experience esophagitis caused by increasing levels of hormones combined with pressure from the growing fetus.

Furthermore, long-term intake of certain medications such as bronchodilators for asthma, progestin for birth control or to treat abnormal menstrual bleeding, sedatives for insomnia and anxiety, calcium channel blockers for high blood pressure.

Dr. Zeynel Mungan and colleagues in examing the medication risk of esophagitis wrote, "Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which is common in many communities, is associated with structural factors, eating habits, and the use of certain drugs".

And, "The use of such drugs can lead to the emergence of GERD and can also exacerbate existing reflux symptoms. These drugs can contribute to GERD by directly causing mucosal damage, by reducing lower esophageal sphincter pressure (LESP), or by affecting esophagogastric motility".


Therefore, if you currently taking some of the aforementioned medication, please make sure that you know all the side effects for preventive measures.

Lycopene is a phytochemical found in tomato in the class of carotenoid, a natural pigment with no vitamin A activity found abundantly in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables, such as red carrots, watermelons, and papayas,

Tomatoes provide about 80% of the lycopene in the world diet. In plants, lycopene protects the host against excessive photodamage and performs various functions in photosynthesis.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of esophagitis, researchers examined the role of lycopene (L) on radiation-induced acute esophageal toxicity in an animal model.

60 Wistar albino rats.selected to the study were divided into five groups: control, L, radiotherapy (RT), L before RT (L + RT), and L before and after RT (L + RT + L). 6 mg/kg bw/day with L administered 7 days in the L group, 7 days before RT in the L + RT group, and 7 days before and after in the L + RT + L group.

According to the tested analysis, L levels were significantly higher in the L receiving groups, comapred to RT group.

Esophagitis was significantly worse in the RT group than in the none-RT groups. Injection of lycopene in the L + RT and the L + RT + L groups showed better results than the RT group.

Compared to RT group, grade 2-3 degenerative changes-necrosis and vacuole formation were significantly lesser in the L + RT and the L + RT + L groups.

Furthermore, subepithelial bulla formation and inflammation in the L + RT and the L + RT + L groups were also significantly decreased compared to the RT group.

Moreover, L + RT + L groups exerted the highest decrease to regeneration-mitosis compared to a moderate decrease in the L + RT group, comapred to RT groups.

Taken altogether, lycopene found in tomato may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of esophagitis, pending on the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Lycopene in the Prevention of Radiation-Induced Esophagitis by Coskun H1, Andic F1, Daglıoglu YK2, Doran F3, Sahin K4, Tunalı C1, Kucuk O. (PubMed)
(2) Which drugs are risk factors for the development of gastroesophageal reflux disease? by Mungan Z, Pınarbaşı Şimşek B. (PubMed)