抄録
Dietary carotenoids have attracted much attention because of their antioxidant activities and other biological activities including anti-cancer, anti-allergic, and anti-obese actions. Although no less than forty carotenoids are ingested under usual dietary habits, only six carotenoids and their possible metabolites have been found in human tissues, suggesting selectivity in the intestinal absorption of carotenoids. Recently, facilitated diffusion in addition to simple diffusion has been reported to mediate the intestinal absorption of carotenoids in mammals. The selective absorption of carotenoids may be caused by the uptake to the intestinal epithelia by the facilitated diffusion and an unknown excretion to intestinal lumen. This paper reviews the absorption of carotenoids by introducing recent advances in this field.
