Fucoxanthin, a major carotenoid in edible brown algae, potentially inhibits the proliferation of human prostate cancer cells via apoptosis induction. However, it has been postulated that dietary fucoxanthin is hydrolyzed into fucoxanthinol in the gastrointestinal tract before absorption in the intestine. In the present study, we investigated the further biotransformation of orally administered fucoxanthin and estimated the cytotoxicity of fucoxanthin metabolites on PC-3 human prostate cancer cells. After the oral administration of fucoxanthin in mice, two metabolites, fucoxanthinol and an unknown metabolite, were found in the plasma and liver. The unknown metabolite was isolated from the incubation mixture of fucoxanthinol and mouse liver preparation (10,000gsupernatant of homogenates), and a series of instrumental analyses identified it as amarouciaxanthin A [(3S,5R,6′S)-3,5,6′-trihydroxy-6,7-didehydro-5,6,7′,8′-tetrahydro-β,ϵ-carotene-3′,8′-dione]. The conversion of fucoxanthinol into amarouciaxanthin A was predominantly shown in liver microsomes. This dehydrogenation/isomerization of the 5,6-epoxy-3-hydroxy-5,6-dihydro-βend group of fucoxanthinol into the 6′-hydroxy-3′-oxo-ϵend group of amarouciaxanthin A required NAD(P)⁺ as a cofactor, and the optimal pH for the conversion was 9.5 to 10.0. Fucoxanthinol supplemented to culture medium via HepG2 cells was also converted into amarouciaxanthin A. The 50% inhibitory concentrations on the proliferation of PC-3 human prostate cancer cells were 3.0, 2.0, and 4.6 μM for fucoxanthin, fucoxanthinol, and amarouciaxanthin A, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the enzymatic dehydrogenation of a 3-hydroxyl end group of xanthophylls in mammals.

Curcumin and its structurally related compounds (curcuminoids), the phenolic yellowish pigments of turmeric, display antioxidative, anticarcinogenic and hypocholesterolemic activities. In this study, we investigated the effects of dietary supplemented curcuminoids [commercial grade curcumin: a mixture of curcumin (73.4%), demethoxycurcumin (16.1%) and bisdemethoxycurcumin (10.5%)] on lipid metabolism in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to three diet groups (n = 6) and fed a moderately high-fat diet (15 g soybean oil/100 g diet) for 2 wk. One diet group did not receive supplements (CONT), while the others were supplemented with 0.2 g curcuminoids/100 g diet (CUR0.2) or 1.0 g curcuminoids/100 g diet (CUR1.0). Liver triacylglycerol and cholesterol concentrations were significantly lower in CUR1.0 rats than in CONT rats. Plasma triacylglycerols in the VLDL fraction were also lower in CUR1.0 rats than in CONT rats (P < 0.05). Hepatic acyl-CoA oxidase activity of both the CUR0.2 and CUR1.0 rats was significantly higher than that of CONT rats. Furthermore, epididymal adipose tissue weight was significantly reduced with curcuminoid intake in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that dietary curcuminoids have lipid-lowering potency in vivo, probably due to alterations in fatty acid metabolism.

Epoxyxanthophylls (epoxide-containing xanthophylls), a group of carotenoids, are ubiquitously distributed in edible plants. Among them, neoxanthin in green leafy vegetables and fucoxanthin in brown algae have been reported to exhibit an antiproliferative effect on several human cancer cells in vitro. However, there is little information about the intestinal absorption and metabolic fate of dietary epoxyxanthophylls in humans. To estimate the intestinal absorption of neoxanthin and fucoxanthin in humans, we evaluated the plasma epoxyxanthophyll concentrations before and after 1-week dietary interventions with spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and wakame (Undaria pinnatifida). The epoxyxanthophylls and their metabolites in the plasma extracts were determined by HPLC after partial purification and concentration with solid-phase extraction cartridges. Even after 1 week of spinach intake (3·0 mg neoxanthin/d), the plasma concentrations of neoxanthin and its metabolites (neochrome stereoisomers) remained very low (about 1 nmol/l), whereas those of β-carotene and lutein were markedly increased. Similarly, the plasma concentration of fucoxanthinol, a gastrointestinal metabolite of fucoxanthin, was < 1 nmol/l after 1 week of wakame intake (6·1 mg fucoxanthin/d). These results indicated that the plasma response to dietary epoxyxanthophylls was very low in humans even after 1-week intake of epoxyxanthophyll-rich diets.