Carotenoid and melanin pigments in the plumage of birds are hypothesized to be sensitive to oxidative stress. We manipulated oxidative status of captive greenfinches (Carduelis chloris L.) by the administration of buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a selective inhibitor of the synthesis of glutathione (GSH), an intracellular antioxidant. Half of the birds in the treated group, as well as in the cont...

Carotenoid-based integument colouration is extremely widespread in the animal kingdom. It has been hypothesized that carotenoid colouration is used for communicating the health status of the bearers because carotenoids are efficient immunomodulators or antioxidants. However, the latter argument has been recently debated and the mechanisms by which carotenoids modulate immunity or oxidative bala...

Despite the notable health benefits of carotenoids for human health, the majority of human diets worldwide are repeatedly shown to be inadequate in intake of carotenoid-rich fruits and vegetables, according to current health recommendations. To address this deficit, strategies designed to increase dietary intakes and subsequent plasma levels of carotenoids are warranted. When mixed carotenoids ...

Carotenoids are a class of natural pigments present in all phototrophic organisms, mainly in their light-harvesting proteins in which they play roles of accessory light absorbers and photoprotectors. Extensive time-resolved spectroscopic studies of these pigments have revealed unexpectedly complex photophysical properties, particularly for carotenoids in light-harvesting LH2 complexes from purp...

The carotenoid pigments in the whole human retina and in the macular region were measured quantitatively by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Approximately a five-fold larger amount of carotenoids was found in the human macula (35-120 ng) than in previously reported work. The dominant carotenoids in the whole retina are lutein and zeaxanthin. Zeaxanthin is concentrated in the macular ...

Objective Fungi produce many different carotenoids and some are attractive in medical and industrial sources. In this work the ability of Mucor hiemalis (PTCC 5292) to produce carotenoids in media with different nitrogenous and carbon sources and incubation with white, yellow, blue and red lights (15W, 220V, E27) against dark-grown were studied. Materials and Method The microorganism cultiva...

BACKGROUND Objective biomarkers are needed to assess adherence to vegetable and fruit intervention trials. Blood carotenoids are considered the best biomarker of vegetable and fruit intake, but collecting blood is invasive and the analyses are relatively expensive for population studies. Resonance Raman spectroscopy (RRS) is an innovative method for assessing carotenoids in skin noninvasively. ...

BACKGROUND Dietary lipids are one of the most effective stimulators of carotenoid absorption, but very limited data exist on the impact of endogenous food sources of lipids to enhance carotenoid absorption. The co-consumption of whole egg with carotenoid-rich foods may increase overall carotenoid absorption via lipid-rich egg yolk. OBJECTIVE We designed this study to assess the effects of egg...

BACKGROUND Psoriasis is an inflammatory disease that not only affects the skin but can also have systemic implications such as obesity and nutritional deficiencies. Carotenoids are vitamin A provitamins with anti-oxidant properties that are present in human tissues including skin. OBJECTIVES To determine whether psoriasis is associated with lower levels of skin carotenoid levels. METHODS In...