title: Absorption of Carotenoids and Mechanisms Involved in Their Health-Related Properties.
abstract: Carotenoids participate in the normal metabolism and function of the human body. They are involved in the prevention of several diseases, especially those related to the inflammation syndrome. Their main mechanisms of action are associated to their potent antioxidant activity and capacity to regulate the expression of specific genes and proteins. Recent findings suggest that carotenoid metabolites may explain several processes where the participation of their parent carotenoids was unclear. The health benefits of carotenoids strongly depend on their absorption and transformation during gastrointestinal digestion. The estimation of the 'bioaccessibility' of carotenoids through in vitro models have made possible the evaluation of the effect of a large number of factors on key stages of carotenoid digestion and intestinal absorption. The bioaccessibility of these compounds allows us to have a clear idea of their potential bioavailability, a term that implicitly involves the biological activity of these compounds.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo A. C.-Unidad Cuauhtémoc, Av. Río Conchos S/N, Parque Industrial, C.P. 31570, Cd. Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, Mexico.
authors.forename: Braulio
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cervantes-Paz
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo A. C.-Unidad Cuauhtémoc, Av. Río Conchos S/N, Parque Industrial, C.P. 31570, Cd. Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, Mexico.
authors.forename: Claudia I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Victoria-Campos
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo A. C.-Unidad Cuauhtémoc, Av. Río Conchos S/N, Parque Industrial, C.P. 31570, Cd. Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, Mexico. jornelas@ciad.mx.
authors.forename: José de Jesús
authors.initials: Jde J
authors.lastname: Ornelas-Paz
mesh_terms: D001682:Biological Availability; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004063:Digestion / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002338:Carotenoids
keywords: Absorption; Bioaccessibility; Bioactivity; Food matrix