Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #149011
Title: BIOAVAILABILITY OF SYNTHETIC AND BIOSYNTHETIC DEUTERATED LYCOPENE IN HUMANS

Author
item TANG, GUANGWEN - HNRCA
item FERREIRA, ANA LUCIA - UNESP CP 584
item Grusak, Michael
item QUIN, JIN - HNRCA
item DOLNIKOWSKI, GREGORY - HNRCA
item RUSSELL, ROBERT - HNRCA
item KRINSKY, NORMAN - TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/20/2004
Publication Date: 4/1/2005
Citation: Tang, G., Ferreira, A.A., Grusak, M.A., Quin, J., Dolnikowski, G.G., Russell, R.M., Krinsky, N.I. 2005. Bioavailability of synthetic and biosynthetic deuterated lycopene in humans. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 16(4):229-235.

Interpretive Summary: Remarkable inverse relationships have been reported between lycopene intake or lycopene serum values and the risk of cancer of the prostate, pancreas, lung, and stomach. Lycopene is derived primarily in our diet from tomatoes and tomato products, and may account for up to 60% of blood carotenoid content in the US population. Current knowledge of the bioavailability of lycopene in humans is limited due to the inability to distinguish newly administered lycopene from the body reserves of lycopene. Development of a quantitative method to assess the absorption and relative bioavailability of newly ingested synthetic or natural lycopene. We conducted a pilot feeding study using two deuterated lycopene sources, in conjunction with an advanced technology to analyze newly absorbed lycopene in blood samples of study subjects. Our results showed that up to 34 days after taking an oral labeled dose lycopene (synthetic or from tomato) with a liquid formula drink, the blood response to synthetic lycopene was three times of that of the lycopene from the tomato dose. Our pilot study provides evidence that the absorption of physiological levels of lycopene in intrinsically labeled tomatoes can be studied in humans.

Technical Abstract: Current knowledge of the bioavailability of lycopene in humans is limited due to the inability to distinguish newly administered lycopene from the body reserves of lycopene. Development of a quantitative method to assess the absorption and relative bioavailability of newly ingested synthetic or natural lycopene. We conducted a pilot feeding study using two deuterated lycopene sources, in conjunction with an advanced LC/APCI (atmospheric pressure chemical ionization)-MS method to analyze newly absorbed lycopene in blood samples of study subjects. Two subjects (1 male and 1 female) consumed hydroponically grown tomatoes containing deuterium-enriched lycopene (enrichment peak at M +10) and two subjects (1 male and 1 female) consumed synthetic 2H10 lycopene (6 mg in 6 g of corn oil). Tomatoes containing 8.9 mg and 9.5 mg deuterated lycopene per dose (80 ¿ 84 g wet weight; with 2H10 as the predominant isotopomer) were steamed and pureed. The doses were given together with a liquid formulated drink with 25% energy from fat. The detection limit of 2H10 lycopene using LC/APCI-MS method was 1.0 ng. Our results showed that up to 34 days after taking an oral 2H10 lycopene dose (synthetic or from tomato) with a liquid formula drink, the area under the curve of the average serum percent enrichment response of synthetic lycopene reached 124.0 (± 8.7) mg-day/mg whereas that of lycopene from the tomato dose was 42.5 (± 5.4) mg-day/mg. Our pilot study provides evidence that the absorption of physiological levels of lycopene in intrinsically labeled tomatoes can be studied in humans. From these preliminary investigations, we find that the bioavailability of synthetic lycopene in oil appears to be about three times higher than that of lycopene from cooked and pureed tomatoes.