Licopenul - cea mai sanatoasa substanta din lume?

Licopenul este un pigment rosu din plante (o carotenoida) care se gaseste in rosii, dar si in pepeni, grapefruit roz, papaya si fructul gac, orice naiba fruct ar fi asta! 

Pentru barbati, licopenul este foarte important pentru ca are efecte protectoare asupra prostatei. Si dovezile sunt coplesitoare:

• O meta-analiza a 26 de studii cu peste 560 mii de participanti a descoperit o relatie inversa intre licopen si cancerul de prostata. 
• Un studiu pe aproape 50 de mii de barbati a descoperit ca cei cu un aport mare de licopen aveau sanse mai reduse a de a face cancer de prostata. 
• Alta meta-analiza asupra 17 studii a descoperit ca barbatii care aveau un consum crescut de produse pe baza de rosii (sursa primara de licopen), aveau cu 15-20% sanse mai mici sa faca cancer de prostata. 

Sunt destule dovezi si ca licopenul opreste marirea prostatei. 

Efectele licopenului nu se orpesc doar la combaterea cancerului de prostata. Are multe alte beneficii, precum:

• Dintre toate carotenoidele (peste 600), licopenul are cel mai puternic efect antioxidant. 
• Cand barbati care sufereau de infertilitate au luat 2 miligrame de licopen de doua ori pe zi, timp de 3 luni, 66% dintre ei si-au imbunatatit calitatea spermei.
• Pe langa combaterea cancerului de prostata, licopeul combate si cancerele de vezica, cervical, oral, esofagian, pancreatic si rectal, pe langa leucemie si cancere de colon, plamani si san. 
• Nivelurile de licopen sunt invers proportionale cu glucoza plasmatica si nivelurile de insulina pe nemancate. Inseamna ca te face mai sensibil la insulina, reduand riscul de diabet de tip II si imbunatateste metabolismul carbohidratilor, ceea ce te ajuta inclusiv sa slabesti si sa te mentii mai slab.
• 5-7 mg/zi de licopen reduc riscul de boli cardiovasculare, dar in cazul bolilor cardiovasculare deja existente poate fi nevoie de doze de 35-75 mg. 
• Licopenul poate proteja pielea de radiatiile soarelui UV-B. 
• La soareci fara blana, licopenul a imbunatatit aspectul pielii, a facut pielea mai catifelata si chiar i-a crescut grosimea (pielea mai subtire se rideaza mai usor).
• Licopenul poate activa raspunsul imunitar adaptativ (celulele T si B care produc anticorpi care ataca infectii specifice).
• Licopenul poate combate si unele boli neurodegenerative. 
• O meta-analiza a 12 studii a descoperit ca 25 mg/zi de licopen reduce LDL (colesterolul rau) si tensiunea arteriala. 
• Licopenul este foarte sigur. Doze de pana la 3 grame/ kg corp nu au efecte secundare. 

De ce este licopenul atata de benefic?

Licopenul este un foarte puternic antioxidant, asa ca multe din proprietatile sale deriva de aici. Dar pe langa asta este si un puternic antiiflamator, are efecte de modulare ale sistemului imunitar si influenteaza unele enzime protectoare din corp. Cel mai interesant, licopenul are o proprietate anume, care ii permite sa faciliteze schimbul de nutrienti si molecule intre celulele vecine. Este foarte important, pentru ca o carcateristica a cancerului este pierderea capacitatii celulelor de a face schimb de nutrienti intre ele. 

De ce suplimente cu licopen si nu rosii?

Rosiile in general contin cantitati mari de licopen (31 mcg/gram). Dar sa ai un aport de doze terapeutice nu este asa simplu precum a manca cateva rosii. 

In rosiile proaspete moleculele de licopen sunt sub forma de trans. Aceasta forma impiedica absortia licopenului. Asa ca trebuie schimbata configurarea moleculelor la cis. Asta se face prin procesarea rosiilor, adica expunerea lor la caldura, acid sau lumina, sau prin pasarea lor. 

Dar si asa, lucruri precum varsta, sexul, hormonii, fumatul, alcoolul si cat de bine mesteci si cate fibre mananci, poate afecta cat licopen extrage sistemul digestiv din rosii.

Sa mananci pasta de rosii sau rosii gatite este ok in teorie, in practica exista multe variabile pentru a calcula o doza exacta. In plus, cantitatile de licopen variaza enorm intre diferitele soiuri de rosii si conteaza chiar si in ce conditii au fost crescute (ce sol, cat timp au stat pe vrej, in ce mediu au crescut, daca au fost stropite sau nu, etc.).

Asa ca, alternativa la a manca mult ketchup pe zi, este suplimentarea cu capsule de licopen. Exista deja o gama abundenta de astfel de suplimente, asa ca procurarea lor nu va ridica probleme. 

Doza zilnica de licopen porneste de la 25 mg/zi, dar poate fi crescuta in functie de nevoi. 

Referinte

1. Melanie Caseiro, et al. Lycopene in Human Health, LWT – Food Science and Technology, 29 March, 2020. An overview of the effects of lycopene on humans and lab animals.
2. V. Kalai Selvan, et al. Lycopene’s Effects on Health and Diseases, Natural Medicine Journal, March 2011 Vol. 3 Issue 3. An overview of the effects of lycopene on humans and lab animals.
3. Ping Chen, et al. Lycopene and Risk of Prostate Cancer A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Medicine (Baltimore). 2015 Aug;94(33): 31260. This study demonstrates that higher lycopene consumption/circulating concentration is associated with a lower risk of PCa.
4. J Athen Lane, et al. ProDiet: A Phase II Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial of Green Tea Catechins and Lycopene in Men at Increased Risk of Prostate Cancer, Cancer Pres Res. 2018 Nov;11(1): 687-696. This study aimed to establish the feasibility and acceptability of dietary modification in men at increased risk of prostate cancer. Men were invited with a PSA level of 2.0-2.95 ng/mL or 3.0-19.95 ng/mL with negative prostate biopsies. Randomization (3 × 3 factorial design) to daily green tea and lycopene: green tea drink (3 cups, unblinded) or capsules [blinded, 600 mg flavan-3-ol ()-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) or placebo] and lycopene-rich foods (unblinded) or capsules (blinded, 15 mg lycopene or placebo) for 6 months. All interventions were acceptable and well tolerated although men preferred the capsules. Dietary prevention is acceptable to men at risk of prostate cancer. This intervention trial demonstrates that a chemoprevention clinical trial is feasible.
5. Ying Wang, et al. Lycopene, tomato products and prostate cancer-specific mortality among men diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, Int J Cancer, 2016 June 15;138 (12):2846-55. Among men with high-risk cancers (T3-T4 or Gleason score 8-10, or nodal involvement), consistently reporting lycopene intake ≥ median on both post diagnosis surveys was associated with lower prostate-cancer specific mortality.
6. Ping Chen, et al. Lycopene and Risk of Prostate Cancer A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Medicine (Baltimore). 2015 Aug;94(33): 31260. This study demonstrates that higher lycopene consumption/circulating concentration is associated with a lower risk of PCa.
7. J Athen Lane, et al. ProDiet: A Phase II Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial of Green Tea Catechins and Lycopene in Men at Increased Risk of Prostate Cancer, Cancer Pres Res. 2018 Nov;11(1): 687-696. This study aimed to establish the feasibility and acceptability of dietary modification in men at increased risk of prostate cancer. Men were invited with a PSA level of 2.0-2.95 ng/mL or 3.0-19.95 ng/mL with negative prostate biopsies. Randomization (3 × 3 factorial design) to daily green tea and lycopene: green tea drink (3 cups, unblinded) or capsules [blinded, 600 mg flavan-3-ol ()-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) or placebo] and lycopene-rich foods (unblinded) or capsules (blinded, 15 mg lycopene or placebo) for 6 months. All interventions were acceptable and well tolerated although men preferred the capsules. Dietary prevention is acceptable to men at risk of prostate cancer. This intervention trial demonstrates that a chemoprevention clinical trial is feasible.
8. Ying Wang, et al. Lycopene, tomato products and prostate cancer-specific mortality among men diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, Int J Cancer, 2016 June 15;138 (12):2846-55. Among men with high-risk cancers (T3-T4 or Gleason score 8-10, or nodal involvement), consistently reporting lycopene intake ≥ median on both post diagnosis surveys was associated with lower prostate-cancer specific mortality.
9. Rebecca E Graff, et al. Dietary lycopene intake and risk of prostate cancer defined by ERG protein expression, Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Mar;103(3): 851-860 – This study aimed to examine associations between estimated lycopene and tomato sauce intake and the risk of prostate cancer defined by ERG protein expression subtype. Their study population consisted of a prospective cohort of 46,719 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. During 23 years of follow-up, 5543 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, among whom 884 were assayed for ERG (426 ERG-positive). With inclusion of only the latter cases, increasing cumulative average tomato sauce intake was associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer overall (≥ 2 servings/wk compared with < 1 serving/mo; multivariable HR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.52, 0.95; P-trend = 0.002). With respect to molecular subtypes, cumulative average tomato sauce intake was associated with a decreased risk of ERG-positive disease (HR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.37, 0.81; P-trend = 0.004) but not with ERG-negative disease (HR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.62, 1.50; P-trend = 0.10) (P-heterogeneity = 0.04). The conclude that, in particular, tomato sauce consumption may play a role in reducing TMPRSS2:ERG-positive disease.
10. JL Rowles, et al. Increased dietary and circulating lycopene are associated with reduced prostate cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2017 Dec;20(4):361-377 – The data demonstrate that higher dietary and circulating lycopene concentrations are inversely associated with PCa risk. This was accompanied by dose-response relationships for dietary and circulating lycopene. However, lycopene was not associated with a reduced risk of advanced PCa.
11. Jinyao Chen, et al. Lycopene/tomato consumption and the risk of prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies, J Nutr Sci Vitaminol, 2013,59(3):213-23 – Eleven cohort studies and six nested case-control studies were identified through searching of international journal databases and reference lists of relevant publications. Two reviewers independently assessed the study quality and extracted data from each identified study; only studies with sufficient quality were included in the review. The main outcome of interest was incidence of prostate cancer. Compared with consumers of lower raw tomato intake, the odds ratio (OR) of incidence of prostate cancer among consumers of higher raw tomato intake was 0.81 [95% confidential interval (CI) 0.59-1.10]; for consumers of higher level of cooked tomato intake versus lower cooked tomato intake, this OR was 0.85 (95% CI 0.69-1.06); the OR of higher lycopene intake versus lower lycopene intake for prostate cancer was 0.93 (95% CI 0.86-1.01) and the OR for higher level of serum lycopene versus lower serum lycopene level was 0.97 (95% CI 0.88-1.08).
12. Yulan Wang, et al. Effect of Carotene and Lycopene on the Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies, PLoS One. 2015;10(9) – α-carotene and lycopene, but not β-carotene, were inversely associated with the risk of PCa.
13. Rhona A Beynon, et al. Investigating the effects of lycopene and green tea on the metabolome of men at risk of prostate cancer: The ProDiet randomised controlled trial, Int J Cancer. 2019 Apr 15;144(8):1918-1928 – Lycopene and green tea consumption have been observationally associated with reduced prostate cancer risk, but the underlying mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. This study investigated the effect of factorial randomization to a 6-month lycopene and green tea dietary advice or supplementation intervention on 159 serum metabolite measures in 128 men with raised PSA levels (but prostate cancer-free), analyzed by intention-to-treat. The causal effects of metabolites modified by the intervention on prostate cancer risk were then assessed by Mendelian randomization, using summary statistics from 44,825 prostate cancer cases and 27,904 controls. An intervention to increase lycopene intake altered the serum metabolome of men at risk of prostate cancer. Lycopene lowered levels of pyruvate, which our Mendelian randomisation analysis suggests may be causally related to reduced prostate cancer risk.
14. Ke Zu, et al. Dietary lycopene, angiogenesis, and prostate cancer: a prospective study in the prostate-specific antigen era, J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014 Feb;106(2):dt430 – Comparing different measures of dietary lycopene, early intake, but not recent intake, was inversely associated with prostate cancer. Higher lycopene intake was associated with biomarkers in the cancer indicative of less angiogenic potential. Dietary intake of lycopene was associated with reduced risk of lethal prostate cancer and with a lesser degree of angiogenesis in the tumor.
15. Li Nang, et al. Lycopene exerts anti-inflammatory effect to inhibit prostate cancer progression, Asian J Androl. 2019 Jan-Feb;21(1):8085 – The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of lycopene in inhibiting prostate cancer. Cell viability assays indicated the dose- and time-dependent toxicity of lycopene in prostate cancer cells. Annexin V/propidium iodide double-staining assays revealed the strong apoptotic effects of lycopene. The levels of inflammatory factors, including interleukin-1 (IL1), IL6, IL8, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), in lycopene-treated cells were also reduced by lycopene treatment. With the increasing dose of lycopene, the survival of mice bearing prostate cancer xenografts was significantly improved (P < 0.01), and the tumor burden was significantly reduced (P < 0.01). Their results indicate that lycopene is a promising chemotherapy drug, which inhibits prostate cancer progression by suppressing the inflammatory response.
16. Mohhamed M. Rafi, et al. Lycopene modulates growth and survival associated genes in prostate cancer, Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, Vol 24, Issue 10, October 2013, Pages 1724-1734 – Flow cytometry analyses showed that lycopene, in combination with chemotherapeutic agents and PPARγ agonists, induced modest cell cycle arrest with significant increase in cell death by apoptosis and necrosis on prostate cancer. Gene array and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses showed that lycopene alters the expression of growth and apoptosis associated biomarkers in PC-3 cells. These findings highlight that lycopene attenuates prostate cancer by modulating the expression of growth and survival associated genes.
17. S. Ellinger, et al. Tomatoes and lycopene in prevention and therapy–is there an evidence for prostate diseases? Akutelle Urol. 2009 Jan;40(1):37-43 – Tomatoes are discussed to have an important role in the prevention of and therapy for prostate cancer (PCA). This review summarizes the results of original contributions with a focus on interventional studies. Whereas epidemiological studies on BPH prevention provide no evidence for a preventive potential of tomatoes and tomato products, the majority of interventional trials points to an increased DNA resistance against oxidative-induced damage. Even though their effect on a surrogate marker of the IGF pathway cannot be evaluated so far due to insufficient data, the consumption of tomatoes and tomato products may probably protect from PCA–at least when considering low-grade PCA. Thus, regular consumption of these foods can be recommended for the prevention of PCA. Tomato products might also be useful in the therapy for BPH and PCA.
18. L Chen, et al. Oxidative DNA damage in prostate cancer patients consuming tomato sauce-based entrees as a whole-food intervention, J Natl Cancer Inst. 2001 Dec 19;93(24):1872-9 – Thirty-two patients with localized prostate adenocarcinoma consumed tomato sauce-based pasta dishes for the 3 weeks (30 mg of lycopene per day) preceding their scheduled radical prostatectomy. After the dietary intervention, serum and prostate lycopene concentrations were statistically significantly increased, from 638 nM (95% confidence interval [CI] = 512 to 764 nM) to 1258 nM (95% CI = 1061 to 1455 nM) (P < .001) and from 0.28 nmol/g (95% CI = 0.18 to 0.37 nmol/g) to 0.82 nmol/g (95% CI = 0.57 to 1.11 nmol/g) (P < .001), respectively. Furthermore, prostate tissue oxidative DNA damage was also statistically significantly lower in men who had the intervention (0.76 8-OHdG/10(5) dG [95% CI = 0.55 to 0.96 8-OHdG/10(5) dG]) than in the randomly selected patients (1.06 8-OHdG/10(5) dG [95% CI = 0.62 to 1.51 8-OHdG/10(5) dG]; P =.03). Serum PSA levels decreased after the intervention, from 10.9 ng/mL (95% CI = 8.7 to 13.2 ng/mL) to 8.7 ng/mL (95% CI = 6.8 to 10.6 ng/mL) (P < .001). These data indicate a possible role for a tomato sauce constituent, possibly lycopene, in the treatment of prostate cancer and warrant further testing with a larger sample of patients, including a control group.
19. Danbin Li, et al. MicroRNA-let-7f-1 is induced by lycopene and inhibits cell proliferation and triggers apoptosis in prostate cancer, Molecular Medicine Reports, February 2, 2016 – The results of the current study indicate that miR let 7f 1 is involved in the anticancer effects of lycopene and serves an important role in the inhibition of prostate cancer progression through the downregulation of AKT2.
20. Ingvild Paur, et al. Tomato-based randomized controlled trial in prostate cancer patients: Effect on PSA, Clin Nutr 2017 Jun;36(3):672-679 – Three week nutritional interventions with tomato-products alone or in combination with selenium and n-3 fatty acids lower PSA in patients with non-metastatic prostate cancer. Our observation suggests that the effect may depend on both aggressiveness of the disease and the blood levels of lycopene, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids.
21. T Bureyko, et al. Reduced growth and integrin expression of prostate cells cultured with lycopene, vitamin E and fish oil in vitro, Br J Nutr. 2009 Apr;10(7):990-7 – Malignant cell lines exhibited lower expression of alpha2beta1 with the addition of lycopene to culture media. Supplemental fish oil reduced alpha2beta1 in most invasive cell lines (LNCaP and PC-3). Each nutrient at physiological levels reduced integrins alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5 in most invasive cell lines (PC-3). The results suggest that integrins may represent an additional target of bioactive nutrients and that the effects of nutrients may be dependent on the type of cell line used.
22. Lei Wan, et al. Dietary tomato and lycopene impact androgen signaling- and carcinogenesis-related gene expression during early TRAMP prostate carcinogenesis, Cancer Prev Res. 2014 Dec;7(12):1228-39 – Consumption of tomato products containing the carotenoid lycopene is associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. To identify gene expression patterns associated with early testosterone-driven prostate carcinogenesis, which are impacted by dietary tomato and lycopene, wild-type (WT) and transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate (TRAMP) mice were fed control or tomato- or lycopene-containing diets from 4 to 10 weeks of age. Expression of genes involved in androgen metabolism/signaling pathways is reduced by lycopene feeding (Srd5a1) and by tomato feeding (Srd5a2, Pxn, and Srebf1). Collectively, these studies demonstrate a profile of testosterone-regulated genes associated with early prostate carcinogenesis that are potential mechanistic targets of dietary tomato components. Future studies on androgen signaling/metabolism, stem cell features, and neuroendocrine differentiation pathways may elucidate the mechanisms by which dietary tomato and lycopene impact prostate cancer risk.
23. Nayan Kumar Mohanty, et al. Lycopene as a chemopreventive agent in the treatment of high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia, Urol Oncol. Nov-Dec 2005;23(6):383-5 – A total of 40 patients with prostate cancer were randomized into 2 groups: one received 4 mg lycopene twice a day for one year, and the other was periodically followed up. Total follow-up was one year. Results show that lycopene can delay or prevent HGPIN from developing into occult prostate cancer, and there exists an inverse relationship between lycopene and prostate-specific antigen. Being a vegetable carotenoid, lycopene is a safe drug to be used for a longer period without any adverse reaction. They concluded that lycopene is an effective chemopreventive agent in the treatment of high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia, with no toxicity and good patient tolerance.