beta-carotene and naringenin

Epidemiological data showed that tomato and tomato product (sauce, paste) consumption is associated with a protective effect against the development of some chronic-degenerative diseases. Tomato antioxidant bioactive molecules such as carotenoids and polyphenols could be responsible, at least in part, for the healthy effect observed. The bioavailability of these compounds is an essential requirement to sustain their in vivo role. While it is well known that many factors can influence the bioaccessibility of carotenoids from the food matrix, there is little information about the factors affecting phenolic compounds' bioaccessibility.. This investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of domestic cooking on the bioavailability in humans of antioxidant molecules after the administration of a test meal containing cherry tomatoes.. A cross-over design was conducted. Subjects (3 females and 2 males) consumed experimental meals containing fresh and cooked cherry tomatoes. Blood collection was performed at different time intervals (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 24 h).. Carotenoid and phenol plasma concentrations were measured. Plasma levels of lycopene and beta-carotene were not significantly different with respect to the baseline after ingestion of both the test meals, while plasma concentrations of naringenin and chlorogenic acid increased significantly with respect to the baseline (P<0.05) after administration of cooked cherry tomatoes, but not after administration of fresh cherry tomatoes.. The present study indicated that domestically cooked tomatoes significantly increase naringenin and chlorogenic acid plasma levels. Considering that both naringenin and chlorogenic acid are widely studied for their potential healthy properties, evidence of their bioavailability and of the factors influencing their bioaccessibility is an important tool to sustain the possibility that these polyphenols play a biological role in human physiology.

Topics: Adult; Antioxidants; Area Under Curve; beta Carotene; Biological Availability; Carotenoids; Chlorogenic Acid; Cooking; Cross-Over Studies; Female; Flavanones; Humans; Intestinal Absorption; Lycopene; Male; Solanum lycopersicum

Naringenin, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) activator found in citrus fruits, upregulates markers of thermogenesis and insulin sensitivity in human adipose tissue. Our pharmacokinetics clinical trial demonstrated that naringenin is safe and bioavailable, and our case report showed that naringenin causes weight loss and improves insulin sensitivity. PPARs form heterodimers with retinoic-X-receptors (RXRs) at promoter elements of target genes. Retinoic acid is an RXR ligand metabolized from dietary carotenoids. The carotenoid β-carotene reduces adiposity and insulin resistance in clinical trials. Our goal was to examine if carotenoids strengthen the beneficial effects of naringenin on human adipocyte metabolism.. Human preadipocytes from donors with obesity were differentiated in culture and treated with 8µM naringenin + 2µM β-carotene (NRBC) for seven days. Candidate genes involved in thermogenesis and glucose metabolism were measured as well as hormone-stimulated lipolysis.. We found that β-carotene acts synergistically with naringenin to boost UCP1 and glucose metabolism genes including GLUT4 and adiponectin, compared to naringenin alone. Protein levels of PPARα, PPARγ and PPARγ-coactivator-1α, key modulators of thermogenesis and insulin sensitivity, were also upregulated after treatment with NRBC. Transcriptome sequencing was conducted and the bioinformatics analyses of the data revealed that NRBC induced enzymes for several non-UCP1 pathways for energy expenditure including triglyceride cycling, creatine kinases, and Peptidase M20 Domain Containing 1 (PM20D1). A comprehensive analysis of changes in receptor expression showed that NRBC upregulated eight receptors that have been linked to lipolysis or thermogenesis including the β1-adrenergic receptor and the parathyroid hormone receptor. NRBC increased levels of triglyceride lipases and agonist-stimulated lipolysis in adipocytes. We observed that expression of RXRγ, an isoform of unknown function, was induced ten-fold after treatment with NRBC. We show that RXRγ is a coactivator bound to the immunoprecipitated PPARγ protein complex from white and beige human adipocytes.. There is a need for obesity treatments that can be administered long-term without side effects. NRBC increases the abundance and lipolytic response of multiple receptors for hormones released after exercise and cold exposure. Lipolysis provides the fuel for thermogenesis, and these observations suggest that NRBC has therapeutic potential.

Topics: Adipocytes, White; beta Carotene; Glucose; Hormones; Humans; Insulin Resistance; Lipolysis; Obesity; Phenotype; PPAR gamma; Triglycerides

The antioxidant activity of food compounds is one of the properties generating the most interest, due to its health benefits and correlation with the prevention of chronic disease. This activity is usually measured using in vitro assays, which cannot predict in vivo effects or mechanisms of action. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vivo protective effects of six phenolic compounds (naringenin, apigenin, rutin, oleuropein, chlorogenic acid, and curcumin) and three carotenoids (lycopene B, β-carotene, and astaxanthin) naturally present in foods using a zebrafish embryo model. The zebrafish embryo was pretreated with each of the nine antioxidant compounds and then exposed to tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBOOH), a known inducer of oxidative stress in zebrafish. Significant differences were determined by comparing the concentration-response of the tBOOH induced lethality and dysmorphogenesis against the pretreated embryos with the antioxidant compounds. A protective effect of each compound, except β-carotene, against oxidative-stress-induced lethality was found. Furthermore, apigenin, rutin, and curcumin also showed protective effects against dysmorphogenesis. On the other hand, β-carotene exhibited increased lethality and dysmorphogenesis compared to the tBOOH treatment alone.

Topics: Animals; Antioxidants; Apigenin; beta Carotene; Biological Factors; Carotenoids; Curcumin; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Embryo, Nonmammalian; Embryonic Development; Flavanones; Lycopene; Oxidative Stress; Polyphenols; tert-Butylhydroperoxide; Xanthophylls; Zebrafish

Balanced expression of multiple genes is central for establishing new biosynthetic pathways or multiprotein cellular complexes. Methods for efficient combinatorial assembly of regulatory sequences (promoters) and protein coding sequences are therefore highly wanted. Here, we report a high-throughput cloning method, called COMPASS for COMbinatorial Pathway ASSembly, for the balanced expression of multiple genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. COMPASS employs orthogonal, plant-derived artificial transcription factors (ATFs) and homologous recombination-based cloning for the generation of thousands of individual DNA constructs in parallel. The method relies on a positive selection of correctly assembled pathway variants from both, in vivo and in vitro cloning procedures. To decrease the turnaround time in genomic engineering, COMPASS is equipped with multi-locus CRISPR/Cas9-mediated modification capacity. We demonstrate the application of COMPASS by generating cell libraries producing β-carotene and co-producing β-ionone and biosensor-responsive naringenin. COMPASS will have many applications in synthetic biology projects that require gene expression balancing.

Topics: Arabidopsis Proteins; beta Carotene; Biosensing Techniques; Biosynthetic Pathways; Cloning, Molecular; CRISPR-Cas Systems; Flavanones; Homologous Recombination; Metabolic Engineering; Norisoprenoids; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; Synthetic Biology; Transcription Factors

Chronic inflammation, a process linked to increased oxidative stress, may induce many diseases. Whether beta-carotene prevents inflammation is unclear. Using phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-stimulated HL-60 cells, we investigated the effects of 2 or 20 microM beta-carotene on the inflammatory reaction of monocyte/macrophage-like cells and the modulation of 20 microM quercetin or naringenin, two flavonoids, of the effects of beta-carotene. The effects of quercetin and naringenin were compared with that of alpha-tocopherol, a well-known antioxidant. The stimulated HL-60 cells were also co-incubated with A549 cells to investigate the DNA-damaging ability of the stimulated monocyte/macrophage-like cells on target cells. Our results showed that preincubation with 20 microM beta-carotene significantly enhanced the release of two pro-inflammatory mediators, interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, in PMA-stimulated HL-60 cells and slightly increased the DNA-damaging ability of these cells. By contrast, 2 microM beta-carotene had an inhibitory effect on the inflammatory reaction in PMA-stimulated cells. The higher dose of beta-carotene also exerted pro-inflammatory effects in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, quercetin, naringenin, and alpha-tocopherol partly suppressed the pro-inflammatory effects of 20 microM beta-carotene on PMA-stimulated HL-60 cells, and the suppressing effects of quercetin and naringenin were better than or similar to those of alpha-tocopherol. Quercetin also additively or synergistically enhanced the inhibitory effects of 2 microM beta-carotene on the secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators and the DNA-damaging ability of PMA-stimulated HL-60 cells. The mechanisms underlying the effect of the flavonoids were associated with their antioxidant activity and inhibition of the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Our results urge consideration of the safety of beta-carotene supplementation concerning effects on inflammation and suggest that the interaction between beta-carotene and quercetin or naringenin may alter the effects of beta-carotene on the secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators.

Topics: alpha-Tocopherol; Animals; beta Carotene; Cell Differentiation; Cells, Cultured; DNA Damage; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Flavanones; HL-60 Cells; Humans; Interleukin-8; Lipopolysaccharides; Mice; Quercetin; Reactive Oxygen Species; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate; Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; Time Factors; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha