Daily intake of a lycopene-rich juice is associated with reductions in inflammatory markers but not increases in skin carotenoids in a pilot study among participants with obesity

作者：Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Qiang Wu, Melissa N. Laska, Elizabeth Gates, Megumi Seese, Katelyn Senkus, Santiago Carrero Longlax, Alexandra Portillo-Varela, Andrew R. DiNardo, Nancy E. Moran · 发表于：BMC Nutrition · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s40795-025-01222-y · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress、Retinoids in leukemia and cellular processes、Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities

BACKGROUND: Obesity is associated with systemic inflammation, increasing chronic disease risk. Carotenoids possess anti-inflammatory properties, yet the short-term impact of carotenoid-rich juice intake on inflammation in individuals with obesity remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to examine: (1) participant adherence to a 3-week lycopene-rich juice intervention; (2) variance and effect sizes of responses to the dietary intervention; (3) changes in skin and plasma carotenoids, and inflammatory markers among adults with obesity. METHODS: Twenty-five participants with body mass index (BMI) > 30 kg/m2 were recruited and completed the study. Participants drank 4 ounces (118.3 mL) of study-provided tomato juice, providing 8400 µg lycopene daily, for 3 weeks. Participants were asked to keep their diets isocaloric and to continue with the habitual diet. Skin and plasma carotenoids were measured at baseline and at 3-weeks, using reflection spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography, respectively. Thirteen inflammatory markers and C-reactive protein were quantified, and 3-week changes were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. RESULTS: Mean age was 38.6 (10.7) years and mean BMI was 35.9 (4.1) kg/m2. Ten participants drank 83–99% and 15 participants drank 100% of the juice assigned. Effect sizes for inflammatory markers ranged from Cohen’s d = 0.07 to d = 0.57. There was a significant 3-week increase in plasma lycopene concentrations (9.72 (-1....