Cardiology Unit, San Camillo de Lellis Hospital, via Isonzo, Manfredonia, Foggia, 71043, Italy.
Human Nutrition, Department of Biomedical Science, via Dei vestini, University G. D'Annunzio, Chieti, 66013, Italy.
Mar Drugs. 2011;9(7):1166-1175. doi: 10.3390/md9071166. Epub 2011 Jun 27.
Marine carotenoids are important bioactive compounds with physiological activities related to prevention of degenerative diseases found principally in plants, with potential antioxidant biological properties deriving from their chemical structure and interaction with biological membranes. They are substances with very special and remarkable properties that no other groups of substances possess and that form the basis of their many, varied functions and actions in all kinds of living organisms. The potential beneficial effects of marine carotenoids have been studied particularly in astaxanthin and fucoxanthin as they are the major marine carotenoids. Both these two carotenoids show strong antioxidant activity attributed to quenching singlet oxygen and scavenging free radicals. The potential role of these carotenoids as dietary anti-oxidants has been suggested to be one of the main mechanisms for their preventive effects against cancer and inflammatory diseases. The aim of this short review is to examine the published studies concerning the use of the two marine carotenoids, astaxanthin and fucoxanthin, in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
海洋类胡萝卜素是一类重要的生物活性化合物,具有与预防退行性疾病相关的生理活性,主要存在于植物中,其潜在的抗氧化生物特性源于其化学结构和与生物膜的相互作用。它们是具有非常特殊和显著性质的物质,其他物质群没有这些性质,这些性质构成了它们在各种生物体中多种不同功能和作用的基础。海洋类胡萝卜素的潜在有益作用,特别是在虾青素和褐藻黄素中进行了研究,因为它们是主要的海洋类胡萝卜素。这两种类胡萝卜素都表现出很强的抗氧化活性,归因于其能淬灭单线态氧和清除自由基。这些类胡萝卜素作为膳食抗氧化剂的潜在作用,被认为是它们预防癌症和炎症性疾病的主要机制之一。本综述的目的是研究有关使用两种海洋类胡萝卜素,虾青素和褐藻黄素,预防心血管疾病的已发表研究。