Zeus Hygia Life Sciences Private Limited

Beta Carotene - Therapeutic Potential and Strategies to Enhance Its Bioavailability.

Abstract:Background: Beta-carotene is a natural carotenoid that usually occurs as pigments in the plant kingdom. Ample evidence is available in the literature suggesting beta-carotene could possibly lower the risk of stroke, heart diseases, aging, vascular and other metabolic diseases. This mini review in this direction, focusses on the biological importance of beta-carotene and the impact of various factors on their bioavailability. Methods: The goal of this work is to do a mini review on the available literature for the various therapeutic properties of beta carotene and also the current strategies that exist to enhance the bioavailability of beta carotene. Electronically accessible databases were searched, and the findings were collated for analysis and interpretation of the results. Results: Bioavailability of such substances has been a topic of interest for several decades. Digestive aids play a crucial role in increasing the bio-absorption for carotenoids like beta-carotene. Some of these are, the use of vesicular systems, alteration of the physical structure and nano-formulations. Conclusion: Owing to its therapeutic potential, the bioavailability of carotenoids has recently been described by several authors. Various strategies and techniques have been proposed and developed which can enhance the systemic absorption of such compoun

CaroTex (Beta Carotene): A novel and superior formulation developed by BioFusion technol

AbstractBeta-Carotene, a member of carotenoid family is a precursor of vitamin A with plentiful biological functions in human body. Interestingly human body is unable to synthesize beta carotene. Hence beta carotene formulation has gathered considerable attention in the form of supplementation in healthcare. Formulating beta carotene in a suitable drug delivery system with improvement in bioavailability becomes a challenge due to its high hydrophobicity. Consequently a novel formulation (CaroTex) using a proprietary BioFusion technology to enhance bioavailability and stability is developed by ZeusHygia LifeSciences Pvt. Ltd. (Telangana, India).To assess the bioavailability of CaroTex a rat model was developed. Rats efficiently convert beta carotene into vitamin A; hence need to be fed with significantly higher quantities of beta carotene to be absorbed as such. Normal healthy rats divided in 5 groups (Normal Control, Vehicle Control, Standard beta Carotene, Comparator and CaroTex) were fed orally with 50mg/kg dose of beta carotene for 7 days continuously. Beta carotene and its cleavage product retinal concentration were measured in rat liver, which is the major storage site. The concentration of beta -Carotene from the developed novel formulation was found to be stored at higher concentration in liver, compared to all other experimental groups. Carotex shows about 1.70 & 2.55 time higher concentration than Comparator and control respectively. It is also evident from this study that novel formulation technology (BioFusion Technology) adopted for CaroTex reflects in relatively higher concentration levels, 68.23% higher than comparator brand of beta-carotene. Whereas, the concentration of retinal was found to be same in all experimental groups.