摘要
Carotenoid pigments, including hydrocarbons such as β-carotene or xanthophylls such as lutein and zeaxanthin, are very widely distributed in nature, where they play an important role in protecting cells and organisms against the harmful effects of light, air, and sensitizer pigments. This process has been demonstrated in bacteria, algae, plants, animals, and even in humans in the light-sensitive disease, erythropoietic protoporphyria. The primary mechanism of action of this phenomenon appears to be the ability of carotenoids to quench excited sensitizer molecules as well as quench 1O2.
In addition to this protection, and potentially of even greater biological importance, is the fact that carotenoids can also serve as antioxidants under conditions other than photosensitization. This review presents the data available indicating the extent of this important function. Antioxidant action can be documented in both enzymic and nonenzymic systems, and has been reported in subcellular, cellular, and animal studies. In fact, the many reports indicating that carotenoids may possess some anticarcinogenic properties may well be related to their ability to interact with and quench various radical species that can be generated within cells.
摘要译文
类胡萝卜素色素，包括诸如β-胡萝卜素之类的碳氢化合物或诸如叶黄素和玉米黄质之类的叶黄素，在自然界中分布非常广泛，它们在保护细胞和生物体免受光，空气和敏化剂颜料的有害影响方面起重要作用。该过程已经在细菌，藻类，植物，动物甚至人类中在光敏性疾病，红细胞生成性原卟啉中得到证实。这种现象的主要作用机制似乎是类胡萝卜素淬灭激发的敏化剂分子以及淬灭 1 O 2的能力。除了这种保护，并且可能具有更大的生物学重要性之外，类胡萝卜素还可以在光敏化以外的条件下用作抗氧化剂。该评论提供了可用的数据，表明了这一重要功能的范围。可以在酶和非酶系统中记录抗氧化作用，并且已经在亚细胞，细胞和动物研究中报道。事实上，许多报告表明类胡萝卜素可能具有一些抗癌性质，这很可能与它们与细胞内可能产生的各种自由基物质相互作用和淬灭的能力有关。
Norman I.Krinsky[∗];. Antioxidant functions of carotenoids[J]. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 1989,7(6): 617-635