BIO 024 | BIOCHEMISTRY (LECTURE)

NAME: GALANG, JAMES LORD CABALDE COURSE/YEAR/SEC: BSN1-7

STUDENT NO.: 06-2223-033218 PHINMA E-MAIL: jalo.galang.sjc@phinmaed.com

“ABSORPTION AND METABOLISM OF XANTHOPHYLLS”

Dietary carotenoids accumulate in various biological tissued all throughout the food chain after
being synthesized de novo by microorganisms and plants. Nature incorporates over 700 carotenoids, including
metabolites in animals. The majority of carotenoids have oxygen functions in their molecules, and these
carotenoids are known as xanthophylls. In recent years, there has been a lot of interest in the biological
activities of dietary xanthophylls like lutein, zeaxanthin, cryptoxanthin, capsanthin, astaxanthin, and
fucoxanthin. Lutein is a major xanthophyll located in green leafy vegetables. Lutein and zeaxanthin are well-
known to accumulate selectively in the human retina’s macula, they are thought to act as antioxidants and as
blue light emitting filters to keep the eyes safe from oxidative stresses like cigarette smoking and sunlight
exposure, both of which can cause age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Cryptoxanthin, a major
xanthophyll found in fruits such as papaya and mandarin orange, has been shown to reduce interleukin-1 gene
expression in mouse macrophage RAW264 cells, to advertise osteoblastic distinctions of mouse MC3T3 cells,
and to inhibit calcium depletion in ovariectomized rat bone. Capsanthin, a major xanthophyll in paprika, has
been shown to increase HDL cholesterol in rat plasma. Green algae and brown algae have a significant amount
of astaxanthin and fucoxanthin, respectively. Astaxanthin has been discovered in numerous studies to have the
potential to prevent cancer, diabetes, inflammatory, and cardiovascular diseases. Fucoxanthin has been
discovered to stop the proliferation of various cancer cell lines as well as experimentally induced mouse
cancer. Furthermore, fucoxanthin has been shown to possess anti-allergic and anti-obesity attributes in rodent
mast cells and mice, respectively. Green leafy vegetables comprise neoxanthin, which has a structure similar
to fucoxanthin. The commonly noted functional groups of these two xanthophylls are a 5,6-monoepoxide and
an allenic bond. Among the fifteen carotenoids tested, fucoxanthin and neoxanthin had the greatest inhibition
activity on the proliferation of human prostate cancer cells.

Dietary carotenoids, particularly xanthophylls, have received substantial attention because of their
distinctive biological activities, which include anti-allergic, anti-cancer, and anti-obesity properties. Although
forty carotenoids are absorbed in a typical diet, only six carotenoids and their metabolites have been found in
human tissues, indicating specificity in carotenoids’ intestinal absorption. In addition to simple diffusion,
facilitated diffusion has recently been reported to mediate carotenoid digestibility in mammals. Carotenoids
may be selectively absorbed due to uptake to the intestinal epithelia via facilitated diffusion and an unidentified
excretion to the intestinal lumen. After intestinal absorption of carotenoids, carotene can be metabolized to
vitamin A, although very little is known about the metabolic transformation of the non-provitamin A type of
xanthophyll. Enzymatic oxidation of the secondary hydroxyl group, which results in keto-carotenoids, is a
common pathway of xanthophyll metabolism in mammals.

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING | 1ST YEAR 1

 BIO 024 | BIOCHEMISTRY (LECTURE)

The journal and information that has been stated so far, were very informative, and it gives us
knowledge about xanthophyll on how it acquires some distinct biological activities including anti-allergic,
anti-cancer, anti-obesity, and many more that can contribute to the medical perspective and field. Xanthophylls
have many great effects on our surroundings, plants, and animals, and especially on our health and body. This
journal about how xanthophyll’s absorption and metabolization in our body will be very helpful when it comes
to generating some medicines, or even in the medical field.

To sum up, everything that has been stated so far is that under normal dietary habits, various
carotenoids, particularly xanthophylls, are consumed. Carotenoids accumulated in human tissues, on the other
hand, are limited, implying selectivity in intestinal absorption and different metabolic fates of carotenoids.
The responses to the feeding of highly polar xanthophylls suggested that intestinal absorption in humans would
be strictly selective in comparison to mice. Selectivity and its differences between animal species cannot be
explained solely by a simple diffusion mechanism. Instead, the selectivity could be caused by facilitated
diffusion via SR-B1 and an unknown excretion to the luminal side. As a common pathway of xanthophyll
metabolism in mammals, enzymatic oxidation of the secondary hydroxyl group leading to keto-carotenoids
would occur after intestinal absorption of xanthophylls.

REFERENCE/S:

Kotake-Nara, E., & Nagao, A. (2011). Absorption and Metabolism of Xanthophylls. Marine
Drugs, 9(6), 1024–1037. https://doi.org/10.3390/md9061024

Kotake-Nara, E. (n.d.). Absorption and Metabolism of Xanthophylls. MDPI.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/6/1024/htm

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING | 1ST YEAR 2