Researchers from the Color and Food Quality group of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Seville, in collaboration with Marina Ezcurra’s group at the University of Kent (UK), have demonstrated that the carotenoid phytoene increases the lifespan of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and that it can slow the onset of paralysis associated with the formation of amyloid plaques in a model of Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, increases in longevity of between 10 and 18.6% and decreases in the proteotoxic effect of plaques of between 30 and 40% were observed.
The studies, which are part of the doctoral thesis of Ángeles Morón Ortiz, have tested pure phytoene and extracts rich in this carotenoid obtained from microalgae. According to Paula Mapelli Brahm "these are very exciting preliminary results, so we are looking for funding to continue this line of research and thus be able to find out by what mechanisms these effects are produced".
Caenorhabditis elegans is a widely used animal model in biomedicine. In fact it has been instrumental in important discoveries that have been recognized with the Nobel Prize, such as programmed cell death, RNA interference and GFP protein applications.
The team of Professor Antonio Jesús Meléndez Martínez has been studying phytoene, which is found in foods such as tomatoes, carrots, apricots, red peppers, oranges, tangerines and passion fruit, among others, for 15 years. It is a compound that is efficiently absorbed and found in many tissues, including the skin, where studies indicate that it can protect against ultraviolet radiation.
The team works on the sustainable production of healthy foods to reduce the risk of diseases, with emphasis on the applications of carotenoids in agri-food, nutrition and cosmetics. In this area they have coordinated international networks in which researchers from more than 50 countries have participated.
The researchers are grateful for funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation - Agencia Estatal de Investigaciön/10.13039/501100011033, specifically the NEWCARFOODS-PID2019-110438RB-C21 project and the Spanish Carotenoid Network (CaRed-RED2022-134577-T). NEWCARFOODS has been developed in coordination with the group of Professor Rosa León (University of Huelva) who provided the microalgae used in the study.
