25.6.11

Does lycopene improve Crohn's symptoms?

Lycopene from Wikipedia
"Lycopene (from the New Latin word lycopersicum for the tomato species name) is a bright red carotene and carotenoid pigment and phytochemical found in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables, such as red carrots, watermelons and papayas (but not strawberries or cherries). Although lycopene is chemically a carotene, it has no vitamin A activity."

Dietary sources by µg/g wet weight: gac (2,000–2,300), raw tomato (8.8–42), tomato juice (86–100), tomato sauce (63–131), tomato ketchup (124), watermelon (23–72), pink grapefruit (3.6–34), pink guava (54), papaya (20–53), rosehip puree (7.8), apricot (< 0.1) [from Wikipedia]

Lycopene from the world's healthiest foods
"Lycopene is a fat-soluble substance, and as such requires the presence of dietary fat for proper absorption through the digestive tract. Consequently, your lycopene status may be impaired by a diet that is extremely low in fat or if you have a medical condition that causes a reduction in your ability to absorb dietary fat such as ... Crohn's disease...."

"Dietary Factors in the Modulation of IBD: Lycopene" in Medscape Today News
"Two studies have indicated that lycopene, an antioxidant, found in high quantities in foods that have a natural red color (eg, tomato, watermelon, pink grapefruit, etc) may play a role in attenuating the inflammatory process. Lycopene, a member of the carotenoid family, is a free radical scavenger and is only found in plant products. Studies done using indoacetamide rat model of colitis showed that lycopene and 5-aminosalicylate (either in combination or as monotherapy) attenuated the inflammatory response in rat models given iron supplementation. The studies used levels of myeloperoxidase to evaluate inflammation. In a 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid-induced rat models of colitis, lycopene supplementation was shown to decrease tissue levels of myeloperoxidase and a decreased histological immune response. Translational research is necessary before lycopene becomes more mainstream adjunctive therapy."

No comments: