Elvira-Torales Laura Inés, García-Alonso Javier, Periago-Castón María Jesús
Department of Food Technology, Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia (IMIB-Arrixaca-UMU), University Clinical Hospital "Virgen de la Arrixaca", University of Murcia, Espinardo, 30071 Murcia, Spain.
Department of Food Engineering, Tierra Blanca Superior Technological Institute, Tierra Blanca 95180, Mexico.
Antioxidants (Basel). 2019 Jul 19;8(7):229. doi: 10.3390/antiox8070229.
The consumption of carotenoids has beneficial effects on health, reducing the risk of certain forms of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and macular degeneration, among others. The mechanism of action of carotenoids has not been clearly identified; however, it has been associated with the antioxidant capacity of carotenoids, which acts against reactive oxygen species and inactivating free radicals, although it has also been shown that carotenoids modulate gene expression. Dietary carotenoids are absorbed and accumulated in the liver and other organs, where they exert their beneficial effects. In recent years, it has been described that the intake of carotenoids can significantly reduce the risk of suffering from liver diseases, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This disease is characterized by an imbalance in lipid metabolism producing the accumulation of fat in the hepatocyte, leading to lipoperoxidation, followed by oxidative stress and inflammation. In the first phases, the main treatment of NAFLD is to change the lifestyle, including dietary habits. In this sense, carotenoids have been shown to have a hepatoprotective effect due to their ability to reduce oxidative stress and regulate the lipid metabolism of hepatocytes by modulating certain genes. The objective of this review was to provide a description of the effects of dietary carotenoids from fruits and vegetables on liver health.
类胡萝卜素的摄入对健康有益，可降低某些癌症、心血管疾病和黄斑变性等疾病的风险。类胡萝卜素的作用机制尚未明确；然而，它与类胡萝卜素的抗氧化能力有关，这种能力可对抗活性氧并使自由基失活，不过也有研究表明类胡萝卜素可调节基因表达。膳食中的类胡萝卜素被吸收并积聚在肝脏和其他器官中，在那里发挥其有益作用。近年来，有研究表明，摄入类胡萝卜素可显著降低患肝病的风险，如非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）。这种疾病的特征是脂质代谢失衡，导致脂肪在肝细胞中积累，进而引发脂质过氧化，随后是氧化应激和炎症。在疾病的第一阶段，NAFLD的主要治疗方法是改变生活方式，包括饮食习惯。从这个意义上说，类胡萝卜素已被证明具有肝脏保护作用，因为它们能够通过调节某些基因来降低氧化应激并调节肝细胞的脂质代谢。这篇综述的目的是描述水果和蔬菜中的膳食类胡萝卜素对肝脏健康的影响。
