Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Jul 19;8(7):229.
doi: 10.3390/antiox8070229.

Nutritional Importance of Carotenoids and Their Effect on Liver Health: A Review

Laura Inés Elvira-Torales  1   2 , Javier García-Alonso  3 , María Jesús Periago-Castón  4
Affiliations
Review

Nutritional Importance of Carotenoids and Their Effect on Liver Health: A Review

Laura Inés Elvira-Torales et al. Antioxidants (Basel). .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: hepatic steatosis; lutein; lycopene; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); β-carotene; β-cryptoxanthin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there was no conflict of interest. All authors have accepted their publication in Antioxidants.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagram of the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the protective effect of carotenoids affecting different pathways. The red arrows denote blocked or decreased pathways, whereas the green arrows represent increased or promoted pathways. FA: fatty acids, TG: triglycerides, FFA: free fatty acids β-CAR: β-carotene, LYC: lycopene, LUT: lutein, β-CRIPX: β-cryptoxanthin, ZEA: zeaxanthin [19,110].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Maiani G., Periago Castón M.J., Catasta G., Toti E., Cambrodón I.G., Bysted A., Böhm V. Carotenoids: Actual knowledge on food sources, intakes, stability and bioavailability and their protective role in humans. Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 2009;53:S194–S218. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.200800053. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sugiura M. Carotenoids: Liver diseases prevention. In: Watson R.R., Preedy V.R., editors. Bioactive Foods as Dietary Interventions for Liver and Gastrointestinal Disease. 1st ed. Academic Press; San Diego, CA, USA: 2013. pp. 421–436.
    1. Coyne T., Ibiebele T.I., Baade P.D., McClintock C.S., Shaw J.E. Metabolic syndrome and serum carotenoids: Findings of a cross-sectional study in Queensland, Australia. Br. J. Nutr. 2009;102:1668–1677. doi: 10.1017/S000711450999081X. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sharoni Y., Linnewiel-Hermoni K., Khanin M., Salman H., Veprik A., Danilenko M., Levy J. Carotenoids and apocarotenoids in cellular signaling related to cancer: A review. Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 2012;56:259–269. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201100311. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Periago M.J., García-Alonso J. Biodisponibilidad de antioxidantes en la dieta. In: Álvarez-Parilla E., González-Aguilar A., De la Rosa L.A., Ayala-Zavala J.F., editors. Antioxidantes en Alimentos y Salud. 1st ed. AM-Editores; Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico: 2012. pp. 257–291.

LinkOut - more resources