Trapping of methylglyoxal by curcumin in cell-free systems and in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Curcumin, the most active compound of curcuminoids, has been shown to inhibit formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. However, little is known on whether curcumin may trap methylglyoxal (MGO), a major reactive dicarbonyl compound, to inhibit AGE formation. We found that one molecule of curcumin effectively trapped one molecule of MGO at a 1:3 ratio at 24 h of incubation under physiological conditions (pH 7.

Antimetastatic effects and mechanisms of apo-8'-lycopenal, an enzymatic metabolite of lycopene, against human hepatocarcinoma SK-Hep-1 cells.

Lycopene is primarily metabolized by carotenoid monoxygenase II into apo-8'- and apo-12'-lycopenal in the rat liver. Although lycopene possesses antimetastatic activity in a highly invasive hepatoma SK-Hep-1 cell line, little is known whether its metabolites have a similar effect. In this study, we investigated the antimetastatic effects of apo-8'-lycopenal (1-10 μM) in comparison with lycopene (10 μM) in SK-Hep-1 cells.