OPTICS FOR HEALTH

Carotenoids play an important protective role in healthy human tissues through their antioxidant functions and/ or optical filtering [[i]].  They cannot be synthesized by the human body and need to be taken up from the diet, where they exist in high concentrations in a wide range of fruits and vegetables [[ii]].  The most common carotenoids in the diet are alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, phytoene and phytofluene [[iii]].  Usually all these carotenoids are absorbed from the diet by the intestine and transported by lipoproteins through the bloodstream to various target tissues [[iv]].  Carotenoid levels in the blood stream are correlated with dietary intake, typically increasing significantly in response to fruit and vegetable consumption in intervention settings [[v]]. 

In the retina, where the carotenoid uptake is mediated by binding proteins, only lutein and zeaxanthin are selectively taken up from the blood stream.  They are deposited in high concentrations into the macular region of the retina, where they help prevent or delay the onset of age-related macular degeneration [[vi]].  In skin, all carotenoids are taken up that are present in the blood stream.  Here, the carotenoids may help prevent premature skin aging [[vii]] and certain skin cancers [[viii]]. 

Skin is a relatively stable storage medium for carotenoids and non-invasive optical measurements in this tissue serves as a novel non-invasive biomarker for fruit and vegetable intake. 

Since adequate fruit and vegetable consumption is closely linked to reductions in chronic diseases such as various cancers [[ix]], cardiovascular disease [[x]], age-related degenerative diseases [[xi]] and obesity [[xii]], rapid painless optical screening method for large populations could have tremendous utility. 

The Veggiemeter™ is the non-invasive optical instrument based on reflection spectroscopy that identifies the populations or individuals at particular risk for inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables during the screening sessions, and evaluates the success of interventions aimed at increasing fruit and vegetable intake. 

In Nutritional Supplement Industry, the Veggiemeter™ could be used to identify customers with low skin/ blood carotenoid levels, to track uptake levels upon consumption of carotenoid containing dietary supplements and in such way to prove the efficacies of the supplements [[xiii]].

References

 [i]     N. I. Krinsky and E. J. Johnson, "Carotenoid actions and their relation to health and disease", Molecular Aspects of Medicine  26  (2005) 459-516.

 [ii]  K. Canene-Adams, J. W. Erdman, “Absorption, transport, distribution in tissues and bioavailability”, in G. Britton, S. Liaaen-Jensen, H. Pfander (Eds.), Carotenoids, Nutrition and Health, vol. 5, Basel, Switzerland, Birkhauser Verlag, 2009.

 [iii]   F. Khachik, G. R. Beecher, M. B. Goli, and W. R. Lusby, "Separation, identification, and quantification of carotenoids in fruits, vegetables and human plasma by high performance liquid chromatography", Pure & App. Chemistry  63 (1991) 71-80.

 [iv]   S. Lin, L. Quaroni, W. S. White, et al., “Localization of carotenoids in plasma low-density lipoproteins studied by surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy”, Biopolymers 57 (2000) 249-256.

 [v]    Y. M. Peng, Y. S. Peng, Y. Lin, et al., “Concentrations and plasma-tissue-diet relationships of carotenoids, retinoids, and tocopherols in humans”, Nutrition & Cancer  23 (1995) 233-246.

 [vi]   Age-related eye disease study research group, “The relationship of dietary carotenoid and vitamin A, E, and C intake with age-related macular degeneration in a case-control study”, AREDS Report No. 22, Arch. Ophthalmol.  125  (2007) 1225-1232.

 [vii]   J. Krutmann, D. Yarosh,  “Modern photoprotection of human skin”, In: Skin aging. B. A. Gilchrest, J. Krutmann J (Eds.), Springer, Berlin 2006, pp. 103-112.

 [viii]   E. Giovannucci, “Tomatoes, tomato-based products, lycopene, and cancer: review of the epidemiological literature,” J. Natl. CancerInst. 91 (1999) 317-331.

 [ix]   World Cancer Research Fund American Institution for Cancer Research: Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective. The Second Expert Report, AICR, Washington D.C, 2007.

 [x]    S. Liu, J. E. Manson, I. M. Lee, et al., “Fruit and vegetable intake and risk of cardiovascular disease: the Women's Health Study”, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 72 (2000) 922–928.

 [xi]   E. Cho, J. M. Seddon, B. Rosner, et al., “Prospective study of intake of fruits, vegetables, vitamins, and carotenoids and risk of age-related maculopathy”, Arch. Ophthalmol. 122 (2004) 883–892.

 [xii]    B. C. Tohill, J. Seymour, M. Serdula, et al., “What epidemiologic studies tell us about the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and body weight”, Nutr. Rev. 62 (2004) 365–374.

 [xiii]  W. Gellermann, J. A. Zidichouski, C. R. Smidt, and P. S. Bernstein, “Raman detection of carotenoids in human tissue”, in Carotenoids and Retinoids: Molecular Aspects and Health Issues, L. Packer, K. Kraemer, U. Obermueller-Jervic, and H. Sies, Eds., Chapter 6, pp. 86-114, AOCS Press, Champain, Illinois (2005).
 

The Role of Carotenoids for Health

Longevity Link Corporation