Abstract
Recent epidemiological data suggest that β-carotene may be protective against metabolic diseases in which adipose tissue plays a key role. Adipose tissue constitutes the major β-carotene storage tissue and its functions have been shown to be modulated in response to β-carotene breakdown products, especially retinal produced after cleavage by β-carotene 15,150-monooxygenase (BCMO1), and retinoic acid arising from oxidation of retinal. However, the possibility exists that β-carotene in its intact form can also affect adipocyte function. Development of a knock out model and identification of a loss-offunction mutation have pointed out BCMO1 as being probably the sole enzyme responsible for provitamin A conversion into retinal in mammals. The utilisation of BCMO1 -/-mice should provide insights on β-carotene effect on its own in the future. In humans, intervention studies have highlighted the huge interindividual variation of β-carotene conversion efficiency, possibly due to genetic polymorphisms, which might impact on response to β-carotene. This brief review discusses the processes involved in β-carotene conversion and the effect of cleavage products on body fat and adipose tissue function.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 179-187 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Genes and Nutrition |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2009 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Adipose tissue
- Genetic variants
- Metabolic diseases
- Vitamin A
- β-Carotene
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
- Genetics