Lycopene, the Natural Antioxidants that Inhibits the Risk of Dyslipidemia

By Kyle J. Norton

Antioxidants are stable atoms that inhibit the oxidation caused by reactive oxygen species.

Antioxidants also play a critical role in the prevention of the oxidative stress induced by a chain of reaction as a result of over-expression of free radicals that can only be stopped with the expression of antioxidants produced by the host or from the dietary sources.

More precisely, oxidative stress is caused by the imbalance of the ratio of free radicals and antioxidants.

Epidemiologically, over time, oxidative stress induces damage of protein, lipid, and cell DNA that lead to the incidences of chronic disease, including heart disease, RA and cancers.

In cancer, antioxidants are molecules that process the capability to protect healthy cells against oxidative stress-induced DNA alternation.

In cardiovascular disease, antioxidants reduce the fragility and “permeability” in capillaries and prevent the clotting up of arteries due to oxidation.

In RA, antioxidant inhibits the rheumatoid joint fluid containing significant amounts of hydroxyl radical.

The overexpression of free radicals is bad. However, free radicals generated from cell metabolism may play a critical role in the synthesis of the energy of essential molecules and boosting the immune system. According to the free radical theory, over time, the damage inflicted by reactive oxygen species (ROS), can also induce skin aging.

In a healthy individual, antioxidant enzymes produced by the body are more than enough to accounter the expression of free radicals occurred in our body every day.

However, in people with a weakened immune system such as the elderly, the intake of dietary antioxidants such as supplements or fruits rich with antioxidants may be the only option to improve levels of antioxidants in the body.

Dyslipidemia is a condition with an abnormally high amount of lipids (e.g. triglycerides, cholesterol and/or fat phospholipids) in the blood.

Lycopene is a phytochemical 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 ingredient for the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress, researchers examined the effects of lycopene on vascular oxidative stress and inflammation in a young healthy subject.

The study included blood collection of 18 men and 9 women with restriction of lycopene-containing foods for 1-wk (LYr), after a fasting state and 3 h after an HFm and a low-fat meal (LFm).

Compared to the blood sample collected on pre- and post-meals following 1-wk of 80 mg/day lycopene supplementation (LYs) under continued dietary LYr in the fasting state, researchers found that

* LYs compared with LYr not only evoked a >2-fold increase in plasma lycopene but also increased plasma beta-carotene and alpha-tocopherol.

* However, LYs did not affect plasma nitrate/nitrite, a biomarker of nitric oxide, malondialdehyde, a biomarker of lipid oxidative stress, vascular- and intercellular-adhesion molecules or C-reactive protein, the biomarkers of inflammation.

In other words, HFm-induced dyslipidemic state was inhibited by LYr or LYs but did not affect the plasma malondialdehyde, C-reactive protein, or adhesion molecules.

The results suggested that 1-wk of LYs increased plasma lycopene, beta-carotene, and alpha-tocopherol do not have an effect on the plasma lipid-soluble antioxidant pool, biomarkers of vascular oxidative stress and inflammation in the fasted state as well as during dyslipidemia induced by an HFm in young healthy subjects.

In other words, plasma lycopene consumption inhibits dyslipidemia but does not affect the changes of parameters induced by an HFm in young healthy subjects in the short term.

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) The role of the antioxidants lycopene and vitamin E in the prevention of halothane-induced hepatotoxicity by Beştaş A1, Kahramanoglu M, Erhan OL, Bolat E, Ozercan I, Gürsu F, Gülcü F. (PubMed)
(2) Effect of short-term lycopene supplementation and postprandial dyslipidemia on plasma antioxidants and biomarkers of endothelial health in young, healthy individuals by Denniss SG1, Haffner TD, Kroetsch JT, Davidson SR, Rush JW, Hughson RL. (PubMed)