TY - JOUR
T1 - β-carotene in obesity research
T2 - Technical considerations and current status of the field
AU - Coronel, Johana
AU - Pinos, Ivan
AU - Amengual, Jaume
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the American Heart Association (16SDG27550012), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Multi-State grant project W4002), and the National Institute of Health (HL147252).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2019/4
Y1 - 2019/4
N2 - Over the past decades, obesity has become a rising health problem as the accessibility to high calorie, low nutritional value food has increased. Research shows that some bioactive components in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, could contribute to the prevention and treatment of obesity. Some of these carotenoids are responsible for vitamin A production, a hormone-like vitamin with pleiotropic effects in mammals. Among these effects, vitamin A is a potent regulator of adipose tissue development, and is therefore important for obesity. This review focuses on the role of the provitamin A carotenoid β-carotene in human health, emphasizing the mechanisms by which this compound and its derivatives regulate adipocyte biology. It also discusses the physiological relevance of carotenoid accumulation, the implication of the carotenoid-cleaving enzymes, and the technical difficulties and considerations researchers must take when working with these bioactive molecules. Thanks to the broad spectrum of functions carotenoids have in modern nutrition and health, it is necessary to understand their benefits regarding to metabolic diseases such as obesity in order to evaluate their applicability to the medical and pharmaceutical fields.
AB - Over the past decades, obesity has become a rising health problem as the accessibility to high calorie, low nutritional value food has increased. Research shows that some bioactive components in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, could contribute to the prevention and treatment of obesity. Some of these carotenoids are responsible for vitamin A production, a hormone-like vitamin with pleiotropic effects in mammals. Among these effects, vitamin A is a potent regulator of adipose tissue development, and is therefore important for obesity. This review focuses on the role of the provitamin A carotenoid β-carotene in human health, emphasizing the mechanisms by which this compound and its derivatives regulate adipocyte biology. It also discusses the physiological relevance of carotenoid accumulation, the implication of the carotenoid-cleaving enzymes, and the technical difficulties and considerations researchers must take when working with these bioactive molecules. Thanks to the broad spectrum of functions carotenoids have in modern nutrition and health, it is necessary to understand their benefits regarding to metabolic diseases such as obesity in order to evaluate their applicability to the medical and pharmaceutical fields.
KW - Adipocyte
KW - Vitamin A
KW - β-carotene oxygenase 1
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U2 - 10.3390/nu11040842
DO - 10.3390/nu11040842
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31013923
AN - SCOPUS:85065339463
VL - 11
JO - Nutrients
JF - Nutrients
SN - 2072-6643
IS - 4
M1 - 842
ER -