Ingested quercetin but not rutin increases accumulation of hepatic beta-carotene in BALB/c mice.
Beta-carotene is a carotenoid with a range of reported health benefits besides vitamin A activity. If the enzymatic conversion of beta-carotene to retinal is suppressed in the digestive tract, residual beta-carotene that reaches the tissues increases. We evaluated the function of quercetin and rutin (quercetin-3-rutinoside) to increase the accumulation of beta-carotene in vitro and in vivo in BALB/c mice. When the conversion of beta-carotene by a preparation of the murine small intestine was measured in vitro, the addition of quercetin or rutin considerably inhibited the conversion. When the levels of hepatic beta-carotene and retinoids were measured among three groups of mice fed a diet supplemented with beta-carotene plus quercetin or rutin or beta-carotene alone (four to six mice per group), quercetin increased the level of beta-carotene and decreased the level of retinol, whereas rutin did not. These results demonstrate that quercetin can suppress the conversion of beta-carotene which develops in the cytosol of small intestinal epithelial cells, and that rutin whose rutinose-moiety prevents being absorbed in the small intestine cannot suppress the conversion in vivo. This study offers a novel insight into the interaction between flavonoids and carotenoids with respect to the health benefits from the latter.
Bando
Noriko
N
Department of Food Science, Graduate School of Nutrition and Biosciences, The University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan.
Muraki
Naomi
N
Murota
Kaeko
K
Terao
Junji
J
Yamanishi
Rintaro
R
D000818:Animals; D007408:Intestinal Absorption; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011794:Quercetin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D012176:Retinoids / Q000378:metabolism; D012431:Rutin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000378:metabolism; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D050559:beta-Carotene 15,15'-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
D012176:Retinoids; D019207:beta Carotene; D014801:Vitamin A; D012431:Rutin; D011794:Quercetin; C493359:Bco1 protein, mouse; D050559:beta-Carotene 15,15'-Monooxygenase