A balanced and healthy diet during the menopausal transition and after menopause is crucial for women to reduce the risk for morbidities and chronic diseases due to deficiency of essential nutrients.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of studies that analyzed the impact of vitamin and nutrient deficiencies in postmenopausal women in relation to increased morbidities and chronic conditions.
METHODS: Observational studies were searched in the databases PubMed, UpToDate, and Google Scholar.
RESULTS: We searched 122 studies, of which 90 were included in our analysis. The meta-analysis of the data could not be performed because of the heterogeneity of the statistical methods in the included studies. In our study, we focused on the aspects of vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, omega-3-fatty acids, and lycopene, belonging to the family of carotenoids. Postmenopausal women with deficiencies of these nutrients are more vulnerable to comorbidities such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, metabolic diseases, osteoporosis, obesity, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson\'s disease, Alzheimer\'s disease, depression, cognitive decline, dementia, and stroke. We concluded that women after menopause tend to have a greater probability of suffering from deficiencies in various vitamins and nutrients, and consequently have an increased risk of developing morbidities and chronic diseases.
CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, maintaining optimum serum levels of nutrients and vitamins, either through a balanced and healthy diet consuming fresh fruits, vegetables, and fats or by taking appropriate supplementation, is essential in maintaining optimal health-related quality of life and reducing the risk for women during the menopausal transition and after menopause. Nevertheless, more recent studies need to be assessed to formulate adequate recommendations to achieve positive clinical outcomes.

UNASSIGNED: Diabetes is a growing metabolic disease that is characterized by high blood sugar levels with life-threatening results. Diabetic wounds are a major problem because they do not resolve in few days. Major problems affecting wound healing are infection, age, stress, etc. at the wound site, and other associated disease conditions. Lycopene is a red pigment obtained from various fruits such as tomatoes, watermelon, and guava. It is a powerful antioxidant that scavenges reactive oxygen species and potential as nutraceuticals. It has reported antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycemic, and antiaging activities based on the literature.
UNASSIGNED: The objective of the current study is to find the wound-healing potential of lycopene emulgel (LE) and report the properties of the compound.
UNASSIGNED: Wound healing activity was assessed in Streptozotocin induced diabetic rats and control rats. Streptozotocin injection (55 mg/kg) was used to induce marked hyperglycaemia, compared with controls. The formulation was applied topically and was evaluated for efficacy.
UNASSIGNED: Treatment of rats with lycopene emulgel (LE) topical application exhibited a significant reduction of wound closure of 95.3 and 88.9% and epithelisation within 21 days.
UNASSIGNED: The formulation was found to be novel, safe, and effective in the functional recovery of wounds.

Tomato fruit ripening is accompanied by carotenoid accumulation and color changes. To elucidate the regulatory mechanisms underlying carotenoid synthesis during fruit ripening, a combined transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis was conducted on red-fruited tomato (WP190) and orange-fruited tomato (ZH108). A total of twenty-nine (29) different carotenoid compounds were identified in tomato fruits at six different stages. The abundance of the majority of the carotenoids was enhanced significantly with fruit ripening, with higher levels of lycopene; (E/Z)-lycopene; and α-, β- and γ-carotenoids detected in the fruits of WP190 at 50 and 60 days post anthesis (DPA). Transcriptome analysis revealed that the fruits of two varieties exhibited the highest number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at 50 DPA, and a module of co-expressed genes related to the fruit carotenoid content was established by WGCNA. qRT-PCR analysis validated the transcriptome result with a significantly elevated transcript level of lycopene biosynthesis genes (including SlPSY2, SlZCIS, SlPDS, SlZDS and SlCRTSO2) observed in WP190 at 50 DPA in comparison to ZH108. In addition, during the ripening process, the expression of ethylene biosynthesis (SlACSs and SlACOs) and signaling (SlEIN3 and SlERF1) genes was also increased, and these mechanisms may regulate carotenoid accumulation and fruit ripening in tomato. Differential expression of several key genes in the fruit of two tomato varieties at different stages regulates the accumulation of carotenoids and leads to differences in color between the two varieties of tomato. The results of this study provide a comprehensive understanding of carotenoid accumulation and ethylene biosynthesis and signal transduction pathway regulatory mechanisms during tomato fruit development.

The malfunction of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) due to ox-LDL is a risk contributor for arteriosclerotic disease. Meanwhile, lycopene possesses anti-inflammatory and antioxidative qualities. This investigation aimed to determine if lycopene can protect EPCs from ox-LDL-induced damage and to elucidate the underlying mechanism. The effects of lycopene on the survival, migration, and tube-forming capacity of EPCs were determined via in vitro assays. Expression of proteins related to pyroptosis and cellular proteins related to AMPK/mTOR/NLRP3 signaling was determined by western blot/flow cytometry. Our results demonstrated that lycopene treatment significantly enhanced proliferation, tube formation, and migration of EPCs stimulated by ox-LDL. Additionally, lycopene was found to suppress pyroptosis in ox-LDL-induced EPCs through the activation of AMPK, which led to the inhibition of mTOR phosphorylation and subsequent downregulation of the downstream NLRP3 inflammasome. In summary, our study suggests that lycopene mitigates ox-LDL-induced dysfunction in EPCs and inhibits pyroptosis via AMPK/mTOR/NLRP3 signaling. Our study suggests that lycopene may act as promising therapies for preventing atherosclerosis.

Sesquiterpenes and tetraterpenes are classes of plant-derived natural products with antineoplastic effects. While plant extraction of the sesquiterpene, germacrene A, and the tetraterpene, lycopene suffers supply chain deficits and poor yields, chemical synthesis has difficulties in separating stereoisomers. This review highlights cutting-edge developments in producing germacrene A and lycopene from microbial cell factories. We then summarize the antineoplastic properties of β-elemene (a thermal product from germacrene A), sesquiterpene lactones (metabolic products from germacrene A), and lycopene. We also elaborate on strategies to optimize microbial-based germacrene A and lycopene production.

Drought stress is a serious challenge for global food production. Nanofertilizers and nanocomposites cope with such environmental stresses and also increase nutritional contents of fruits. An in vitro experiment was designed to use Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) primed with Proline and Betaine (ZnOP and ZnOBt NPs) at 50 and 100 mg/kg soil against drought stress in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants. Plant morphological, biochemical, and fruit nutritional quality were accessed. Maximum plant height was observed under the treatment of ZnOP50 (1.09 m) and ZnO 100 (1.06 m). ZnOP and ZnOBt also improved the chlorophyll content up to 86% and 87.16%, respectively. Application of ZnOP NPs also demonstrated maximum tomato yield (204 g tomato/plant) followed by ZnO NPs and ZnOBt NPs. Nanocomposites decreased phenolics and flavonoids contents in drought stressed plants demonstrating the mitigation of oxidative stress. Nanofertilizer also increased the concentration of phenolics and flavonoids in fruits that increased the nutritional contents. Furthermore a significant accumulation of betaine, proline, and lycopene in fruits on nanocomposite treatment made it nutritional and healthy. Lycopene content increased up to 2.01% and 1.23% in presence of ZnOP50 and ZnOP100, respectively. These outcomes validate that drought stress in plant can be reduced by accumulation of different phytochemicals and quenching oxidative stress. The study deems that nano zinc carrying osmoregulators can greatly reduce the negative effects of drought stress and increase nutritional quality of tomato fruits.

BACKGROUND: Biochemical events provoked by oxidative stress and advanced glycation may be inhibited by combining natural bioactives with classic therapeutic agents, which arise as strategies to mitigate diabetic complications. The aim of this study was to investigate whether lycopene combined with a reduced insulin dose is able to control glycemia and to oppose glycoxidative stress in kidneys of diabetic rats.
METHODS: Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were treated with 45 mg/kg lycopene + 1 U/day insulin for 30 days. The study assessed glycemia, insulin sensitivity, lipid profile and paraoxonase 1 (PON-1) activity in plasma. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities and the protein levels of advanced glycation end-product receptor 1 (AGE-R1) and glyoxalase-1 (GLO-1) in the kidneys were also investigated.
RESULTS: An effective glycemic control was achieved with lycopene plus insulin, which may be attributed to improvements in insulin sensitivity. The combined therapy decreased the dyslipidemia and increased the PON-1 activity. In the kidneys, lycopene plus insulin increased the activities of SOD and CAT and the levels of AGE-R1 and GLO-1, which may be contributing to the antialbuminuric effect.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that lycopene may aggregate favorable effects to insulin against diabetic complications resulting from glycoxidative stress.

The effects of lycopene (LP) on macrophage immune responses were evaluated in this study. Compared with the control treatment, LP treatment significantly increased cell vitality, phagocytic activity, and chemokine production in RAW264.7 cells. Additionally, compared with the control treatment, 4 μM LP treatment significantly activated autophagy, enhanced mitochondrial membrane potential, and upregulated receptor-interacting protein kinase 1 (RIPK1), while necrostatin-1 significantly reversed these effects of LP. Furthermore, compared with that in the control group, RIPK1 was significantly upregulated in the 4 μM LP and 4 μM LP + spautin-1 groups, whereas p-mTOR levels were reduced. More importantly, compared with that in the control group, p62 was significantly downregulated, and Beclin1, LC3-II, and Atg7 were upregulated in the 4 μM LP group, while spautin-1 significantly reversed these effects of LP. These results confirm that LP activates the mTOR/Beclin1/LC3/p62 autophagy signaling pathway through RIPK1, thereby enhancing the immune response of macrophages.

Topical consumer interest in natural, healthier, safer and nutritional juice, has inspired the search for innovative technologies that can minimize product degradation. In this regard, thermosonication has been proposed as a potential processing technology that can preserve and produce \"fresh\" products. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) juice is a nutrient-rich fruit juice that is desired by consumers due to its appealing color, pleasant odor, sweet taste and low-calorie content. This fruit juice is, however, highly perishable and prone to microorganisms, because of its neutral pH value and high amount of water activity. In addition, it is thermo-sensitive and therefore degrades quickly under thermal processing. This study aimed to identify the optimal thermosonication processing conditions for retaining the critical quality parameters (lycopene, β-carotene, ascorbic acid and total polyphenolic content) of watermelon juice. Response surface methodology, employing a central composite design, was used to determine the effects of temperature (18-52 °C), processing time (2-13 min) and amplitude level (24-73 μm) at a constant frequency of 25 kHz. The highest quality parameters were obtained at 25 °C, 2 min, and 24 µm at a constant frequency of 25 kHz, which resulted in lycopene of 8.10 mg/100 g, β-carotene of 0.19 mg/100 g, ascorbic acid of 3.11 mg/100 g and total polyphenolic content of 23.96 mg/GAE/g with a desirability of 0.81. The proposed model was adequate (p < 0.0001), with a satisfactory determination coefficient (R2) of less than 0.8 for all phytochemicals. Thermosonicated watermelon juice samples showed minimal changes in their phytochemical properties, when compared to fresh juices; the lycopene content showed a significant increase after thermosonication, and a significant retention of β-carotene, ascorbic acid and total polyphenolic acid was observed. According to the findings, thermosonication could be a viable method for preserving watermelon juice, with minimal quality loss and improved functional attributes.

Walnut isolate protein (WPI)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) conjugates can be employed to creat food-grade delivery systems for preserving bioactive compounds. In this study, WPI-EGCG nanoparticles (WENPs) were developed for encapsulating lycopene (LYC) using the ultrasound-assisted method. The results indicated successful loading of LYC into these WENPs, forming the WENPs/LYC (cylinder with 200-300 nm in length and 14.81-30.05 nm in diameter). Encapsulating LYC in WENPs led to a notable decrease in release rate and improved stability in terms of thermal, ultraviolet (UV), and storage conditions compared to free LYC. Simultaneously, WENPs/LYC exhibited a synergistic and significantly higher antioxidant activity with an EC50 value of 23.98 μg/mL in HepG2 cells compared to free LYC\'s 31.54 μg/mL. Treatment with WENPs/LYC led to a dose-dependent restoration of intracellular antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px) and inhibition of intracellular malondialdehyde (MDA) formation. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis indicated that enrichment in glutathione metabolism and peroxisome processes following WENPs/LYC addition. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) verified the expression levels of related genes involved in the antioxidant resistance pathway of WENPs/LYC on AAPH-induced oxidative stress. This study offers novel perspectives into the antioxidant resistance pathway of WENPs/LYC, holding significant potential in food industry.