Effect of a Tomato-Based Drink on Markers of Inflammation, Immunomodulation, and Oxidative Stress

Abstract

Regular consumption of tomato and its products is being consistently associated with lower risk of several types of cancer and, to a lesser extent, coronary heart disease. Among the many tomato components credited with healthful properties, carotenoids and particularly lycopene are being actively investigated. Given the recognized role of immune/inflammatory processes in atherogenesis, the effects of a tomato-based drink (Lyc-o-Mato), which was previously shown to afford DNA protection from oxidative stress, on the modulation of immune and inflammatory markers (by enzyme immunoessay), on basal lymphocyte DNA damage (by comet assay), and on F2-isoprostane excretion (by LC-MS/MS), were investigated in 26 healthy young volunteers. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study, Lyc-o-Mato (5.7 mg of lycopene, 3.7 mg of phytoene, 2.7 mg of phytofluene, 1 mg of beta-carotene, and 1.8 mg of alpha-tocopherol) or a placebo drink (same taste and flavor, but devoid of active compounds) were given for 26 days, separated by a wash-out period. During the study subjects maintained their habitual, hence unrestricted, diet. TNF-alpha production by whole blood was 34.4% lower after 26 days of drink consumption, whereas the other parameters were not significantly modified by the treatment. In turn, modest effects of the regular intake of a tomato drink, providing small amounts of carotenoids, were found on the production of inflammatory mediators, such as TNF-alpha, in young healthy volunteers. Future intervention trials in subjects with low carotenoid status and/or compromised immune system will resolve the issue of whether carotenoids modulate immune parameters in humans.

Inhibitory Effects of Lycopene on the Induction of NO, Cytokines, and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Expression by Lipopolysaccharide in Primary Cultured Microglia

“…Inhibition of TNF-α by lycopene may be associated with lycopene-mediated suppression of IL-1β. Our results are also consistent with a previous report finding that lycopene could inhibit NO production in activated microglia, and regular consumption of a tomatobased drink including lycopene reduced the TNF-α content of blood (Riso et al, 2006). MAPKs play important roles in mediating cytokine (i.e., TNF-α and IL-1β) release in LPS-stimulated microglia activation (Bhat & Fan, 2002;Nakajima et al, 2004;Waetzig et al, 2005).…”

Comparative Study of the Efficacy of Lycopene Versus Prednisolone in the Management of Oral Lichen Planus- A Randomized, Double Blind Clinical Trial.

“…[6,10,11] Daily intake of 3.7 -7 mg may be sufficient to maintain circulating levels of lycopene at levels sufficient to combat oxidative stress, to reduce lipid peroxidation, to decrease inflammation and TNF-α production [19,20,21,22] and the subject with low baseline lycopene levels respond better to low doses of lycopene than the subjects with elevated baseline levels of lycopene. [15] Single oral dose administration is possible because the half-life of lycopene is 2-3 days.…”

Effect of lycopene on the blood-spinal cord barrier after spinal cord injury in mice

“…Pharmaceuticals may have a considerable effect on microcirculation (6). Lycopene, a carotenoid mostly found in tomatoes and tomato products, possesses potent neuroprotective (7), antiproliferative, anticancer (8), and hypocholesterolemic activity (9). Lycopene reduces proinflammatory cytokine and chemokineexpressing macrophages (10), it protects cultured hippocampal neurons against Aβ and glutamate toxicity (11), it protects against microglial activation in focal cerebral ischemia in rats (7), and it attenuates cognition impairment in the elderly (12).…”