@misc{bohn_balbuena_ulus_iddir_wang_crook_eroglu_2023, title={Carotenoids in Health as Studied by Omics-Related Endpoints}, volume={14}, ISSN={["2156-5376"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2023.09.002}, DOI={10.1016/j.advnut.2023.09.002}, abstractNote={Carotenoids have been associated with risk reduction for several chronic diseases, including the association of their dietary intake/circulating levels with reduced incidence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, and even lower total mortality. In addition to some carotenoids constituting vitamin A precursors, they are implicated in potential antioxidant effects and pathways related to inflammation and oxidative stress, including transcription factors such as nuclear factor κB and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2. Carotenoids and metabolites may also interact with nuclear receptors, mainly retinoic acid receptor/retinoid X receptor and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors, which play a role in the immune system and cellular differentiation. Therefore, a large number of downstream targets are likely influenced by carotenoids, including but not limited to genes and proteins implicated in oxidative stress and inflammation, antioxidation, and cellular differentiation processes. Furthermore, recent studies also propose an association between carotenoid intake and gut microbiota. While all these endpoints could be individually assessed, a more complete/integrative way to determine a multitude of health-related aspects of carotenoids includes (multi)omics-related techniques, especially transcriptomics, proteomics, lipidomics, and metabolomics, as well as metagenomics, measured in a variety of biospecimens including plasma, urine, stool, white blood cells, or other tissue cellular extracts. In this review, we highlight the use of omics technologies to assess health-related effects of carotenoids in mammalian organisms and models.}, number={6}, journal={ADVANCES IN NUTRITION}, author={Bohn, Torsten and Balbuena, Emilio and Ulus, Hande and Iddir, Mohammed and Wang, Genan and Crook, Nathan and Eroglu, Abdulkerim}, year={2023}, month={Nov}, pages={1538–1578} }
 @article{balbuena_cheng_eroglu_2022, title={Carotenoids in orange carrots mitigate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease progression}, volume={9}, ISSN={["2296-861X"]}, DOI={10.3389/fnut.2022.987103}, abstractNote={BackgroundCarotenoids are abundant in colored fruits and vegetables. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a global burden and risk factor for end-stage hepatic diseases. This study aims to compare the anti-NAFLD efficacy between carotenoid-rich and carotenoid-deficient vegetables.}, journal={FRONTIERS IN NUTRITION}, author={Balbuena, Emilio and Cheng, Junrui and Eroglu, Abdulkerim}, year={2022}, month={Sep} }
 @article{cheng_balbuena_miller_eroglu_2021, title={The Role of beta-Carotene in Colonic Inflammation and Intestinal Barrier Integrity}, volume={8}, ISSN={["2296-861X"]}, DOI={10.3389/fnut.2021.723480}, abstractNote={Background: Carotenoids are naturally occurring pigments accounting for the brilliant colors of fruits and vegetables. They may display antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in humans besides being precursors to vitamin A. There is a gap of knowledge in examining their role within colonic epithelial cells. We proposed to address this research gap by examining the effects of a major dietary carotenoid, β-carotene, in the in vitro epithelial cell model.}, journal={FRONTIERS IN NUTRITION}, author={Cheng, Junrui and Balbuena, Emilio and Miller, Baxter and Eroglu, Abdulkerim}, year={2021}, month={Sep} }
 @article{eroglu_balbuena_2020, title={Nutrient modulation of DNA repair in lung cancer}, volume={34}, ISSN={["1530-6860"]}, DOI={10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.06866}, abstractNote={Noncommunicable diseases associated with aging and inflammation is rising in recent decades, contributing global burden of disease globally. Among them are cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Our objective is to illustrate the molecular mechanisms behind the chemoprotective effects of major dietary carotenoids. We hypothesize that carotenoids play a role in modulating genome stability. Telomeres are essential for the stability of our genome, and oxidative stress caused by the reactive oxygen species poses a risk for telomere shortening, thereby contributing to the pathogenesis of chronic diseases, including lung cancer. Human telomeres are composed of 10–15 kilobases of TTAGGG repeats. Guanine is the most readily oxidized of the natural bases, and TTAGG repeats are preferred sites for conversion of Guanine to 8‐oxoG, which repaired by base excision repair through an enzyme called OGG1. In the current study, we investigated mRNA and protein expression of OGG1 and retinoic acid receptors (RARs) in human alveolar epithelial cells exposed to cigarette smoke. Cells pre‐treated with various doses of β‐carotene for 24 hours, and the following day exposed to smoke using a smoking chamber. We found out that while β‐carotene increased OGG1 expression at lower doses, it led to a dramatic decrease at higher concentrations suggesting that at higher doses β‐carotene exerted a pro‐oxidant effect. Previously it was reported that the expression of the RARβ, putative tumor suppressor gene, is reduced in lung cancer. In parallel to OGG1 inhibition, we observed decreased levels of RARβ. We are in the process of quantifying 8‐oxoG by HPLC‐MS/MS. We believe that these novel findings will shed light on the mechanism of action of β‐carotene at the molecular level.}, journal={FASEB JOURNAL}, author={Eroglu, Abdulkerim and Balbuena, Emilio}, year={2020}, month={Apr} }