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Tomato powder or lycopene reduces serum and testicular testosterone and enzymes controlling androgen and estrogen metabolism in mice lacking carotene‐15,15′‐monooxygenase
Author(s) -
Ford Nikki A,
Smith Joshua W,
Clinton Steven K,
Erdman John W
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.975.6
Subject(s) - lycopene , endocrinology , medicine , androgen , testosterone (patch) , androgen receptor , carotene , monooxygenase , estrogen , chemistry , metabolism , carotenoid , biology , prostate cancer , cytochrome p450 , biochemistry , hormone , cancer , food science
Serum levels of lycopene, the red pigment of tomatoes, are inversely associated with prostate cancer incidence while serum sex steroids are positively associated with increased incidence. In this study, mice lacking the expression of carotene‐monooxygenase II (CMO‐II KO), wild‐type mice, or mice with increased expression of CMO‐II in the testes (mice lacking carotene‐monooxygenase I, CMO‐I KO) were used to investigate the effects of lycopene metabolism on sex steroid status. CMO‐II KO mice demonstrate poor metabolic cleavage of lycopene. The lycopene ( P =0.015) and tomato powder diets ( P =0.006) significantly reduced testicular testosterone concentrations in CMO‐I KO mice after 4‐d of feeding. Serum testosterone was also reduced in CMO‐I KO mice by 4‐d of consuming the lycopene ( P =0.012) or the tomato powder ( P =0.017) diets. The sex steroid metabolizing genes, 5α‐reductase and 17β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, were also altered in response to dietary lycopene in the testes of CMO‐I KO mice ( P =0.001). The mRNA expression of the testicular androgen ( P =0.0008) and estrogen ( P <0.0001) receptors was down‐regulated by dietary lycopene in CMO‐I KO mice. We hypothesize that lycopene metabolites, produced through oxidative cleavage by CMO‐II, reduced serum and testicular testosterone alone or in combination with the parent compound, lycopene. (Supported by NIH grant PHS‐1‐RO1 CA125384)