類胡蘿卜素是天然脂溶性色素，它為植物和動物提供絢麗的色彩。飲食中攝入類胡蘿卜素可以降低各種癌癥發生的風險。臨床前的研究表明，一些類胡蘿卜素在體外及體內具有很好的抗腫瘤效果，預示著這類化合物在腫瘤防治中的重要作用。由于化學預防是控制癌癥發生的最重要的措施之一，所以研究利用類胡蘿卜素化學防治癌癥的分子機制非常誘人。盡管高劑量β-胡蘿卜素在臨床試驗中并沒有表現出化學預防活性，但是各種類胡蘿卜素，例如β-胡蘿卜素，α-胡蘿卜素，番茄紅素，葉黃素，玉米黃質，β-隱黃質，巖藻黃質，角黃素和蝦青素，已被證明在某些組織中具有抗癌活性。本文綜述了利用類胡蘿卜素防治癌癥并討論了可能存在的機制。
Cancer chemoprevention by carotenoids
Carotenoids are natural fat-soluble pigments that provide bright coloration to plants and animals. Dietary intake of carotenoids is inversely associated with the risk of a variety of cancers in different tissues. Preclinical studies have shown that some carotenoids have potent antitumor effects both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting potential preventive and/or therapeutic roles for the compounds. Since chemoprevention is one of the most important strategies in the control of cancer development, molecular mechanism-based cancer chemoprevention using carotenoids seems to be an attractive approach. Various carotenoids, such as β-carotene, a-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin, fucoxanthin, canthaxanthin and astaxanthin, have been proven to have anti-carcinogenic activity in several tissues, although high doses of β-carotene failed to exhibit chemopreventive activity in clinical trials. In this review, cancer prevention using carotenoids are reviewed and the possible mechanisms of action are described.
Tanaka T, Shnimizu M, Moriwaki H.
Molecules. 2012, 17(3):3202-3242.
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