In vitro study finds that palm carotenes may protect against oxidative stress induced age-related macular degeneration

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A recent in vitro¹ study find that palm carotene may provide protection against oxidative stress induced age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The palm carotene complex – rich in beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and lycopene – used in the study was provided by ExcelVite (Chemor, Malaysia).

In the study, researchers evaluated cytotoxicity by treating human cancer cells and noncancerous human retinal pigment epithelial cells with the carotenes and determined that the carotenes did not cause cancer cell proliferation nor did they demonstrate cytotoxicity on the noncancerous cells. AMD was replicated in the human retinal epithelial cells by exposing them to hydrogen peroxide.

Antioxidant effects from carotene treatment were observed in epithelial cells when they were exposed to 500 μM of hydrogen peroxide, but these effects were diminished when the hydrogen peroxide exposure was increased to 1,000 μM or decreased to 250 μM, suggesting that protection from carotene is dose-dependent. Researchers also observed that the carotene treatment downregulated inflammatory genes, determining that the immune system pathways may the key to carotene-induced protective effects.

Ultimately, the study’s evidence warrants further investigation and more advanced research.

Reference

1. Meganthan P et al. “Effect of carotenes against oxidative stress induced age-relatedmacular degeneration in human retinal pigment cells.” ACS Food Science & Technology, Published online ahead of print on September 29, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.2c00205