Lycopene is the natural chemical that gives tomatoes their red hue and is also found in watermelon, pink grapefruit and apricots. Lycopene is an antioxidant that helps repair the damage done to cells by environmental and other stresses . Vitamins are substances that your body needs to function normally. They are natural substances required by the body to grow and develop. Vitamins are contained in food and it is said that a well-balanced diet provides all of the vitamins required. However, there are times, like during pregnancy and childhood, during illness, your body needs more vitamins than usual. It is here multivitamins play a vital role. They are recommended for patients who need extra vitamins, who are not healthy, who cannot eat enough food to obtain the required vitamins etc. Multivitamins represent the preparations which supplement the diet with vitamins, dietary minerals and other nutritional element. | |||
Indication and UsageProphylactics supplement in patients affected with lung cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarion cancer.PharmacologyAbsorption and Metabolism: Carotenoids are absorbed like fats and transported via the lymphatic system into the liver. Absorption is dependent on the diet. Studies have demonstrated that higher fat diets increase lycopeneabsorption, while cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce its absorption. Also, lycopene from processed tomato products is more readily absorbed than that from raw tomatoes.PharmacokineticsAfter ingestion, lycopene is incorporated into lipid micelles in the small intestine. These micelles are formed from dietary fats and bile acids, and help to solubilize the hydrophobic lycopene and allow it to permeate the intestinal mucosal cells by a passive transport mechanism. Little is known about the liver metabolism of lycopene, but like other carotenoids, lycopene is incorporated into chylomicrons and released into the lymphatic system. In blood plasma, lycopene is eventually distributed into the very low and low density lipoprotein fractions.]Lycopene is mainly distributed to fatty tissues and organs such as the adrenal glands, liver, prostate and testes.Role in photosynthesis:Lycopene is a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of many carotenoids .Carotenoids like lycopene are important pigments found in photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes in plants, photosynthetic bacteria, fungi, and algae. They are responsible for the bright colors of fruits and vegetables, perform various functions in photosynthesis, and protect photosynthetic organisms from excessive light damage. Lycopene is a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of many important carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, and xanthophylls.Antioxidant properties and potential health benefits:Lycopene may be the most powerful carotenoid quencher of singlet oxygen, being 100 times more efficient in test tube studies of singlet-oxygen quenching action than vitamin E, which in turn has 125 times the quenching action of glutathione (water soluble)]. Singlet oxygen produced during exposure to ultraviolet light is a primary cause of skin aging. In addition, a lycopene metabolite apo-10'-lycopenal, or ALA, may have an important role in the metabolism of hepatic lipids, and may prevent build up. The build up of lipids in the liver can result in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD. NAFLD can progress to more serious conditions, such as, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma.Other usesProstate cancer:Early research in men with precancerous changes in their prostate shows that taking 4 mg of lycopene supplements twice daily might delay or prevent progression to prostate cancer. In addition, researchers have surveyed men about their diet and health and found contradictory information about a possible role for lycopene in preventing prostate cancer. Some of these studies show that lycopene from foods, such as tomato products, is associated with a lower risk of developing prostate cancer. But other research shows no association between dietary lycopene intake and prostate cancer risk. However, for men in this study who had a family history of prostate cancer, getting more lycopene from food seemed to offer some protection against getting prostate cancer.Breast cancer:
Several studies have tried to determine whether getting more lycopene from food or taking supplements will help to prevent breast cancer. But findings have not agreed. |
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