Lycopene presence in facial skin corneocytes and sebum and its association with circulating lycopene isomer profile: Effects of age and dietary supplementation

• Published in: Food science & nutrition Vol. 7; no. 4; pp. 1157 - 1165
• Main Authors: Petyaev, Ivan M., Pristensky, Dmitry V., Morgunova, Elena Y., Zigangirova, Nailya A., Tsibezov, Valeriy V., Chalyk, Natalia E., Klochkov, Victor A., Blinova, Victoria V., Bogdanova, Tatiana M., Iljin, Alexei A., Sulkovskaya, Larisa S., Chernyshova, Marina P., Lozbiakova, Marina V., Kyle, Nigel H., Bashmakov, Yuriy K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.04.2019; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Age; Age factors; aging; antioxidant carotenoid; Antioxidants; Biopsy; Body mass index; Cardiology; Carotenoids; Collaboration; Diet; dietary supplementation; Dietary supplements; Employees; Epidemiology; Fluorescence; High-performance liquid chromatography; Isomers; Levels; Liquid chromatography; Lycopene; Monoclonal antibodies; Original Research; serum lycopene isomers; Skin; skin surface; Studies; United Kingdom > UK; Russia; skin surface; antioxidant carotenoid; serum lycopene isomers; aging; dietary supplementation
• ISSN: 2048-7177; 2048-7177
• DOI: 10.1002/fsn3.799

Lycopene is a dietary antioxidant known to prevent skin photodamage. This study aimed to examine age‐dependent presence of this carotenoid on the surface of the facial skin and in the serum as well as to measure the same parameters during supplementation with lycopene. Serum samples and samples from facial skin surface were obtained from 60 young (under 25 years old) and 60 middle‐aged (over 50 years old) volunteers. Similar samples were taken from 15 middle‐aged subjects during 4‐week supplementation with lycopene (7 mg/day). Serum lycopene levels and isomer profiles were analyzed by HPLC. Lycopene in desquamated corneocytes and the sebum from facial skin surface was determined using lycopene‐specific fluorescent monoclonal antibodies. The results demonstrated that there was no age‐related difference in serum lycopene levels, but a higher proportion of (all‐E)‐lycopene was detected in the “young” group (37.5% vs 26.2% in the “middle‐aged” group; p < 0.0001). “Young” volunteers also had a higher lycopene level in both corneocytes (p = 0.0071) and the sebum (p = 0.0139) from the skin surface. Supplementation with lycopene resulted in a sharp increase of lycopene concentrations in both serum and skin surface samples. There was also a clear change in the pattern of lycopene isomers in the serum manifested by a significant increase in the proportion of (all‐E)‐lycopene (from 22.1% to 44.0% after supplementation, p < 0.0001). It can be concluded that dietary supplementation with lycopene results in its accumulation in the serum and skin. This process is accompanied by significant changes in the circulating lycopene isomer profile which becomes similar to that typical for young individuals. This study has shown that baseline lycopene levels in the serum are not associated with age, but young individuals have a higher lycopene presence on the surface of the skin. Dietary supplementation with lycopene rises its levels in the serum and on the skin surface and “rejuvenates” serum lycopene isomer pattern in older subjects.