Browsing by Subject "Lutein"

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    Nutritional Importance of Carotenoids and Their Effect on Liver Health: A Review
    (MDPI, 2019-07-19) Periago Castón, Mª Jesús; Elvira-Torales, Laura Inés; García-Alonso, Javier; Tecnología de Alimentos, Nutrición y Bromatología
    The consumption of carotenoids has beneficial e ects on health, reducing the risk of certain forms of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and macular degeneration, among others. The mechanism of action of carotenoids has not been clearly identified; however, it has been associated with the antioxidant capacity of carotenoids, which acts against reactive oxygen species and inactivating free radicals, although it has also been shown that carotenoids modulate gene expression. Dietary carotenoids are absorbed and accumulated in the liver and other organs, where they exert their beneficial e ects. In recent years, it has been described that the intake of carotenoids can significantly reduce the risk of su ering from liver diseases, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This disease is characterized by an imbalance in lipid metabolism producing the accumulation of fat in the hepatocyte, leading to lipoperoxidation, followed by oxidative stress and inflammation. In the first phases, the main treatment of NAFLD is to change the lifestyle, including dietary habits. In this sense, carotenoids have been shown to have a hepatoprotective e ect due to their ability to reduce oxidative stress and regulate the lipid metabolism of hepatocytes by modulating certain genes. The objective of this review was to provide a description of the e ects of dietary carotenoids from fruits and vegetables on liver health.
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    Spinach consumption ameliorates the gut microbiota and dislipaemia in rats with diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
    (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019-03-18) Periago Castón, Mª Jesús; Elvira Torales, Laura Inés; González Barrio, Rocío; Hidalgo, Nieves; Navarro González, Inmaculada; Gómez Gallego, Carlos; Masurero, D; Soini, E; Vrhovsek, U.; García Alonso, Francisco Javier; Tecnología de Alimentos, Nutrición y Bromatología
    Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is defined as the accumulation of fat in liver cells, which causes serious health consequences. Animal and human studies suggest that the gut microbiota plays a role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Here, we investigated whether spinach consumption could ameliorate highfat- diet-induced disturbances in certain intestinal bacterial groups and products derived from their metabolism, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and microbial phenolic catabolites. Attention is also paid to blood lipids and glucose. In the study, a rat model of high-fat-diet-induced NAFLD was used. There were six experimental groups: NC (normal diet), NB (normal diet + 2.5% spinach), NA (normal diet + 5% spinach), HC (high-fat diet), HB (high-fat diet + 2.5% spinach) and HA (high-fat diet + 5% spinach). The rats consumed these diets for five weeks, and after that, they were sacrificed and plasma, urine, intestinal content, faeces and liver samples were taken. Biochemical parameters were analyzed in plasma, phenolic catabolites were quantified in the faeces, urine, plasma and liver by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS, and the analysis of the microbiota and SCFAs in the intestinal content was performed by qPCR and GLC. Consumption of a high-fat diet caused NAFLD and dislipaemia and altered the gut microbiota and the pattern of SCFAs and phenolic gut microbial catabolites. Supplementation with spinach partially ameliorated some alterations induced by the high-fat diet, in particular by increasing the Lactobacillus counts, reducing the fasting glucose and total and LDL-cholesterol and preventing excess liver cholesterol accumulation, thereby improving the values of the steatosis biomarkers.