Lycopene Isolated From Tomatoes Lowers the Levels of Hypercholesterolemia in Vivo

By Kyle J. Norton

The liver is the largest internal organ located in the upper right portion of the abdomen, beneath your diaphragm and above your stomach.

The liver produces bile that not only aids the digestive function in food absorption but also builds strong cell membranes, produces vitamin D and steroid hormone.

Hypercholesterolemia is a condition characterized by abnormally high levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream.

In other words, the condition is caused by either overexpression of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

Cholesterol, a waxy substance produced by the liver or the dietary in moderate amount source plays a critical to aid digestive function in absorbing nutrients, build strong cell membranes, produce steroid hormones and vitamin D. However, excessive amounts in the blood have been found to induce plaque built-up on the arterial wall, leading to heart disease and stroke.

According to the statistics provided by the CDC, hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor of heart disease, a leading cause of death in the US. In the US, approximately, 71 million American adults (33.5%) have high low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad,” cholesterol, and only 1 out of every 3 adults with high LDL cholesterol has the condition under control.

Similar to high blood pressure, people with hypercholesterolemia are asymptomatic. Patients with familial hyper cholesterol may experience symptoms of chest pain with activity. xanthomas, and cholesterol deposits around the eyelids.

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 high blood cholesterol, researchers examined the role of lycopene (L) on proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type-9 against hypercholesterolemia.

Where Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK-9) is a serine protease of the proprotein convertase (PC) family that has been found to affect the levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C).

In HFD rats, lycopene treatment significantly inhibited the levels of low-density lipoprotein by lowering the expression of hepatic PCSK-9 and HMG-CoA Reductase (or 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase or HMGR and increasing the expression of hepatic LDL-R with function to remove LDL.

Furthermore, lycopene treatment also ameliorated inflammation induced by the expression PCSK-9 by suppressing the inflammatory markers.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "Based on the above results, it can be concluded that lycopene exhibits potent hypolipidemic activities via molecular mechanisms that are either identical (HMGR inhibition) or distinct from that of statins".

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

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplements 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) Potential role of lycopene in targeting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type-9 to combat hypercholesterolemia by Sultan Alvi S1, Ansari IA1, Khan I1, Iqbal J2, Khan MS. (PubMed)