• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1799-1803
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• 2003

The possibility of lycopene affecting egg yolk pigmentation was studied with lycopene diets containing 0, 4, 8, and $12{\mu}g/g$ meal, respectively. The addition of lycopene above $4{\mu}g/g$ meal significantly improved yolk color after four days of supplementation. The transfer of lycopene into egg yolk was confirmed by thin layer chromatography, and high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The deposition rate of lycopene into egg yolk was approximately 2%, which was quantitatively determined using a HPLC with a UV detector. The result indicates that lycopene is a good candidate for egg yolk pigmentation and for making functional eggs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.46 no.9
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• pp.1143-1150
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• 2017

The aim of this study was to determine the chemical and intracellular antioxidant activities of ${\beta}$-carotene and lycopene and to compare their quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR). In our previous study, the second ionization energy of lycopene was higher than that of ${\beta}$-carotene, as calculated by QSAR. Chemical antioxidant activities of ${\beta}$-carotene, lycopene, and Trolox were examined by measuring ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. Intracellular antioxidant activities were evaluated by intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA fragmentation. The FRAP of lycopene was higher than that of ${\beta}$-carotene (P<0.05), and the two carotenoids had similar antioxidant activities in DPPH radical scavenging activity assay. Trolox had the greatest chemical antioxidant activities (P<0.05). When RAW264.7 cells were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (100 ng/mL) for 20 h, intracellular ROS and DNA fragmentation significantly increased (P<0.05). RAW 264.7 cells pretreated with ${\beta}$-carotene ($4{\mu}M$) and lycopene ($0.4{\sim}2{\mu}M$) for 4 h formed significantly less intracellular ROS than LPS-treated control cells (P<0.05), whereas cells with Trolox did not reduce production of intracellular ROS. In addition, cells pretreated with $2{\mu}M$ lycopene produced less intracellular ROS than those treated with ${\beta}$-carotene (P<0.05). DNA fragmentation of cells with ${\beta}$-carotene and lycopene was similar to that of LPS-treated control cells as measured by Hoechst staining. The antioxidant ability of lycopene was greater than that of ${\beta}$-carotene in the QSAR, FRAP, and intracellular ROS assays (P<0.05). ${\beta}$-Carotene and lycopene had lower antioxidant activities as measured by FRAP (P<0.05) but higher intracellular protective effects against LPS-induced oxidative stress in comparison with Trolox.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.92-98
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• 2010

Breast cancer has been estimated as one of the most common causes of cancer death among women. The major cause of death from breast cancer is the metastatic spread of the disease from the primary tumor to distant sites in the body. Lycopene is one of the major carotenoids in fruits and vegetables including tomatoes. Epidemiological studies have shown that the dietary intake of lycopene is associated with decreased risk of cancer. Although mounting evidence shows the chemopreventive effect of lycopene, the role of lycopene in the prevention of metastatic potential of breast cancer has not been determined yet. In the present study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of lycopene on invasive and migratory phenotypes of two highly aggressive breast cancer cell lines, H-Ras-transformed MCF10A human breast epithelial cells (H-Ras MCF10A) and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. Here, we report that lycopene significantly inhibits invasion and migration as well as proliferation of H-Ras MCF10A and MDA-MB-231 cells. This study suggested an in vitro anti-cancer and anti-metastatic potential of lycopene. We also showed that activations of ERKs and Akt were inhibited by lycopene in H-Ras MCF10A cells, suggesting that the ERKs and Akt signaling pathways may be involved in lycopene-induced anti-proliferative and/or anti-invasive/migratory effects in these cells. Taken in conjunction with the fact that breast cancer metastasis is one of the most lethal malignancies in women, our findings may provide useful information for the application of lycopene in establishing strategy to prevent the metastatic breast cancer.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.428-436
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• 2003

Epidemiological studies have observed a negative association between increased consumption of green and yellow vegetables and cancer incidence. These vegetables contain carotenoids, which are reported to exhibit anticarcinogenic effects. Overexpression of ErbB2 and ErbB3 genes is a frequent event in several human cancers. The present study was performed to determine whether $\alpha$-carotene, $\beta$-carotene, lutein, or lycopene inhibits cell growth and to assess such an effect is related to changes in the levels of the ErbB receptor family and tile ErbB3 receptor signaling pathway in HT-29 cells. HT-29 cells were cultured in serum-free medium in the presence of various concentrations (0~100 $\mu$M) of the individual carotenoids. $\alpha$ -Carotene and lycopene significantly inhibited cell growth in a dose-dependent manner, whereas lutein slightly inhibited cell growth and $\beta$-carotene increased cell growth. Lycopene is more potent than $\alpha$ -carotene in inhibiting HT-29 cell growth. Lycopene inhibited DNA synthesis and induced apoptosis of HT-29 cells. The ErbB3 ligand heregulin (HRG) increased cell growth but did not prevent the lycopene-induced inhibition of cell growth. Lycopene decreased ErbB2 protein levels in a dose-dependent manner. Immunoprecipitation/Western blot studies revealed that lycopene inhibited HRG-induced phosphorylation of ErbB3, recruitment of the 985 regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) to the ErbB3 receptor, and phosphorylation of Akt. These results indicate that downregulation of ErbB2/ErbB3/PI3K/Akt signaling may be one of the mechanisms by which lycopene inhibits HT-29 cell pro-liferation and induces apoptosis.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.98-106
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• 2004

Tomatoes and tomato products are the major source of lycopene in the diet. The bioavailability of lycopene is different in raw tomatoes compared to processed tomato products. This is due to the chemical and physical properties of the different lycopene isomers. All-trans-lycopene is found in raw tomatoes and is a poor bioavailable source, whereas, processed tomato products are more bioavailable because they contain more cis-isomers. Heat and mechanical processing of tomatoes induces rupture of the cell walls, thereby releasing lycopene from its food matrix. Heat processing also induces cis-trans isomerization and disrupts protein-carotenoid complexes. Many dietary components also impact lycopene bioavailability, like the amount and type of fat present with the intake and processing of tomato products, the amount and type of fiber present, and the interaction between carotenoids. Fundamentally, anything that enhances formation and incorporation of lycopene in bile acid micelles increases bioavailability, and the opposite is true in that anything that interferes with micelle formation decreases bioavailability.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.973-979
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• 2023

Lycopene is a carotenoid widely used as a food and feed supplement due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer functions. Various metabolic engineering strategies have been implemented for high lycopene production in Escherichia coli, and for this purpose it was essential to select and develop an E. coli strain with the highest potency. In this study, we evaluated 16 E. coli strains to determine the best lycopene production host by introducing a lycopene biosynthetic pathway (crtE, crtB, and crtI genes cloned from Deinococcus wulumuqiensis R12 and dxs, dxr, ispA, and idi genes cloned from E. coli). The 16 lycopene strain titers diverged from 0 to 0.141 g/l, with MG1655 demonstrating the highest titer (0.141 g/l), while the SURE and W strains expressed the lowest (0 g/l) in an LB medium. When a 2 × YTg medium replaced the MG1655 culture medium, the titer further escalated to 1.595 g/l. These results substantiate that strain selection is vital in metabolic engineering, and further, that MG1655 is a potent host for producing lycopene and other carotenoids with the same lycopene biosynthetic pathway.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.455-462
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• 2004

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in American men and evidences point to significant life style/diet components as risk factors for its development or prevention. Two large cohort studies have identified the consumption of tomatoes or high Plasma levels of Iycopene as associated with reduced risk. A number of other substances such as quercetin, phytoene, phytofluene, cyclolycopene, salicylates and tomatine in tomato besides lycopene could have anticancer activity and may be acting synergistically with lycopene. Lycopene at almost physiologically feasible concentrations, reduces cell viability by cell cycle arrest and apoptosis and modulates the cyclin pathways as well as increasing intercellular communication. However, it is not clear whether lycopene or its oxidation products are more bioactive. Tomato product supplementation results in plasma accumulation of phytoene, Phytofluene, the lycopene oxidation product, and cyclolycopene at significant concentrations and lycopene supplementation, either as a tomato product or as beadlets, results in maximal mean plasma lycopene concentrations of ∼ 1 $\mu$M which is at the lower limit of its activity in cell culture. Rats and mice are poor accumulators of lycopene and other carotenoids making them poor models for the study of cancer prevention and control. Of the 19 animal studies for various cancer sites, lycopene showed a positive effect in 10 studies but negative in 2 prostate cancer studies. In vivo prevention of leukocyte DNA damage in humans has been mostly studied using tomato product supplementation but lycopene supplementation appeared to reduce oxidative DNA damage as well as tomato product supplementation. Lycopene appears to be bioactive in intefering with carcinogenesis but the actions of phytoene, phytofluene or cyclolycopene cannot be ruled out since these compounds were present in most of the lycopene material used for these studies. Although lycopene remains as a promising agent, especially for cancer control, exploring interactions with other tomato phytochemicals and with current prostate cancer therapies should be encouraged.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.3_spc
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• pp.385-392
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• 2021

Objective: The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of lycopene on growth performance, abdominal fat deposition, serum lipids levels, activities of hepatic lipid metabolism related enzymes and genes expression in broiler chickens. Methods: A total of 256 healthy one-day-old male Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly divided into four groups with eight replicates of eight birds each. Birds were fed basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg lycopene, respectively. Results: Dietary 100 mg/kg lycopene increased the body weight at 21 day of age compared to the control group (p<0.05). Compared to the basal diet, broilers fed diet with 100 mg/kg lycopene had decreased abdominal fat weight, and broilers fed diet with 100 and 200 mg/kg lycopene had decreased abdominal fat percentage (p<0.05). Compared to control, diets with 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg lycopene reduced the levels of total triglyceride and total cholesterol in serum, and diets with 100 and 200 mg/kg lycopene reduced the level of serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (p<0.05). The activity of fatty acid synthase (FAS) in 400 mg/kg lycopene treated broilers and the activity of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) in 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg lycopene treated broilers were lower than those fed basal diet (p<0.05). Lycopene increased the mRNA abundance of adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase α (AMPK-α), whereas decreased the mRNA abundance of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1, FAS, and ACC compared to the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Dietary lycopene supplementation can alleviate abdominal fat deposition and decrease serum lipids levels, possibly through activating the AMPK signaling pathway, thereby regulating lipid metabolism such as lipogenesis. Therefore, lycopene or lycopene-rich plant materials might be added to poultry feed to regulate lipid metabolism.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.224-230
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• 2006

Japanese Quails were used to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with vitamin E (dl-a-tocopheryl-acetate), lycopene, and their combination on egg production, egg quality, concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), vitamin E, A and cholesterol in serum and egg yolk. Quails (n = 120; 55 d old) were divided into four groups (n = 30/group) and fed a basal diet or the basal diet supplemented with lycopene (100 mg/kg diet), vitamin E (250 mg dl-${\alpha}$-tocopheryl-acetate/kg diet) or a combination of lycopene and vitamin E (100 mg/kg lycopene plus 250 mg dl-${\alpha}$-tocopheryl-acetate/kg diet). Vitamin E and lycopene did not affect (p>0.05) body weight, feed intake or egg weight. Egg production and Haugh unit were greater (p<0.05) in each supplemental group compared with the control group (p<0.05). Serum and liver MDA levels were decreased in supplemented groups compared with the control group. Separately or as a combination, supplemental lycopene and vitamin E increased serum and egg yolk vitamin E and A but decreased cholesterol concentrations (p<0.05). In general, when a significant effect was found for a parameter, the magnitude of the responses to vitamin and lycopene supplements was greatest with the combination of the lycopene and vitamin E, rather than that observed with each supplement separately. Results of the present study indicate that supplementing with a combination of dietary lycopene and vitamin E reduced serum and yolk cholesterol concentrations and improved antioxidant status.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.90-96
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Although the antioxidative effects of lycopene are generally known, the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory properties of lycopene are not fully elucidated. This study aimed to examine the role and mechanism of lycopene as an inhibitor of inflammation. METHODS/MATERIALS: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated SW 480 human colorectal cancer cells were treated with 0, 10, 20, and $30{\mu}M$ lycopene. The MTT assay was performed to determine the effects of lycopene on cell proliferation. Western blotting was performed to observe the expression of inflammation-related proteins, including nuclear factor-kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$), inhibitor kappa B ($I{\kappa}B$), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK), c-jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38 (p38 MAP kinase). Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to investigate the mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor ${\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$), interleukin-1 beta ($IL-1{\beta}$), interleukin-6 (IL-6), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) were determined via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. RESULTS: In cells treated with lycopene and LPS, the mRNA expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$, $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, iNOS, and COX-2 were decreased significantly in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05). The concentrations of $PGE_2$ and NO decreased according to the lycopene concentration (P < 0.05). The protein expressions of $NF-{\kappa}B$ and JNK were decreased significantly according to lycopene concertation (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Lycopene restrains $NF-{\kappa}B$ and JNK activation, which causes inflammation, and suppresses the expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$, $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, COX-2, and iNOS in SW480 human colorectal cancer cells.