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Carotenoids in Medicine

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Carotenoids

Abstract

Since Peto et al 1 hypothesized that ß-carotene might function to reduce human cancer rates, much interest has been generated in attempting to relate the known carotenoid functions to the possible mechanism whereby ß-carotene, or other carotenoids, might serve as dietary chemopreventive agents. In this chapter, I am assuming that the anticarcinogenic action of carotenoids will have as its basis one of the known functions that these molecules possess. These functions will be described along with results obtained with bacteria, cell and organ cultures and animals where carotenoids have been shown to prevent mutagenicity, malignant transformation, or prevent the formation of tumors in experimental animals.Mathews-Roth2,3 and Krinsky4 have reviewed earlier the role of carotenoids in preventive medicine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Tufts University Health Sciences Campus, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA, 02111, USA

    Norman I. Krinsky

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  1. Norman I. Krinsky
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  1. Tufts University Health Sciences Campus, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Norman I. Krinsky

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Micheline M. Mathews-Roth

  3. Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Richard F. Taylor

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© 1989 Plenum Press, New York

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Krinsky, N.I. (1989). Carotenoids in Medicine. In: Krinsky, N.I., Mathews-Roth, M.M., Taylor, R.F. (eds) Carotenoids. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0849-2_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0849-2_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8113-9

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