Potential Role of Carotenoids as Antioxidants in Human Health and Disease
Carotenoids constitute a ubiquitous group of isoprenoid pigments. They are very efficient physical quenchers of singlet oxygen and scavengers of other reactive oxygen species. Carotenoids can also act as chemical quenchers undergoing irreversible oxygenation. The molecular mechanisms underlying thes...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Online |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI
2014
|
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3942711/ |
| id |
pubmed-3942711 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
pubmed-39427112014-03-05 Potential Role of Carotenoids as Antioxidants in Human Health and Disease Fiedor, Joanna Burda, Květoslava Carotenoids constitute a ubiquitous group of isoprenoid pigments. They are very efficient physical quenchers of singlet oxygen and scavengers of other reactive oxygen species. Carotenoids can also act as chemical quenchers undergoing irreversible oxygenation. The molecular mechanisms underlying these reactions are still not fully understood, especially in the context of the anti- and pro-oxidant activity of carotenoids, which, although not synthesized by humans and animals, are also present in their blood and tissues, contributing to a number of biochemical processes. The antioxidant potential of carotenoids is of particular significance to human health, due to the fact that losing antioxidant-reactive oxygen species balance results in “oxidative stress”, a critical factor of the pathogenic processes of various chronic disorders. Data coming from epidemiological studies and clinical trials strongly support the observation that adequate carotenoid supplementation may significantly reduce the risk of several disorders mediated by reactive oxygen species. Here, we would like to highlight the beneficial (protective) effects of dietary carotenoid intake in exemplary widespread modern civilization diseases, i.e., cancer, cardiovascular or photosensitivity disorders, in the context of carotenoids’ unique antioxidative properties. MDPI 2014-01-27 /pmc/articles/PMC3942711/ /pubmed/24473231 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu6020466 Text en © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). |
| repository_type |
Open Access Journal |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
US National Center for Biotechnology Information |
| building |
NCBI PubMed |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
English |
| format |
Online |
| author |
Fiedor, Joanna Burda, Květoslava |
| spellingShingle |
Fiedor, Joanna Burda, Květoslava Potential Role of Carotenoids as Antioxidants in Human Health and Disease |
| author_facet |
Fiedor, Joanna Burda, Květoslava |
| author_sort |
Fiedor, Joanna |
| title |
Potential Role of Carotenoids as Antioxidants in Human Health and Disease |
| title_short |
Potential Role of Carotenoids as Antioxidants in Human Health and Disease |
| title_full |
Potential Role of Carotenoids as Antioxidants in Human Health and Disease |
| title_fullStr |
Potential Role of Carotenoids as Antioxidants in Human Health and Disease |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Potential Role of Carotenoids as Antioxidants in Human Health and Disease |
| title_sort |
potential role of carotenoids as antioxidants in human health and disease |
| description |
Carotenoids constitute a ubiquitous group of isoprenoid pigments. They are very efficient physical quenchers of singlet oxygen and scavengers of other reactive oxygen species. Carotenoids can also act as chemical quenchers undergoing irreversible oxygenation. The molecular mechanisms underlying these reactions are still not fully understood, especially in the context of the anti- and pro-oxidant activity of carotenoids, which, although not synthesized by humans and animals, are also present in their blood and tissues, contributing to a number of biochemical processes. The antioxidant potential of carotenoids is of particular significance to human health, due to the fact that losing antioxidant-reactive oxygen species balance results in “oxidative stress”, a critical factor of the pathogenic processes of various chronic disorders. Data coming from epidemiological studies and clinical trials strongly support the observation that adequate carotenoid supplementation may significantly reduce the risk of several disorders mediated by reactive oxygen species. Here, we would like to highlight the beneficial (protective) effects of dietary carotenoid intake in exemplary widespread modern civilization diseases, i.e., cancer, cardiovascular or photosensitivity disorders, in the context of carotenoids’ unique antioxidative properties. |
| publisher |
MDPI |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3942711/ |
| _version_ |
1612064434502500352 |