SIGHT AND LIFE

15th International Symposium on Carotenoids

Highlights of the 15th InternationalSymposium on Carotenoids
George Britton
University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Correspondence: George Britton, University of Liverpool, Life Sciences
Building, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, United Kingdom
Email: g.britton@liv.ac.uk

lowed by an informal
mixer reception atwhich, over drinks
and snacks, oldfriends could catchup on gossip andnewcomers
could
experience the uniquefriendly and relaxedatmosphere of a caro The end of the Symposium. The Symposium tenoid meeting. We
Chair, Wataru Miki hands over the also had our first taste
Symposium Banner to Fred Khachik, new of local culture –President of the International Carotenoid music with drummers
Society.
and dancers weaving
their way under theAll the ingredients were there. The palms between the hotel and thefour ‘S’ words: Sun, Sea, Sand and beach. This put us all in the right
Science. This was Okinawa Island. frame of mind and eager for theThis was the 15th International main business of the Symposium toSymposium on Carotenoids, held begin on Monday morning.
in Japan for only the second time.
Amidst the normal bustle of the After the Opening Ceremony, withMoon Beach Hotel, the ‘Hashimoto words of welcome from Sym Army’ of young researchers was posium Secretary Hideki Hashiworking hard to get every detail moto, Chairman Wataru Miki, andinto place for the Symposium. the President of the InternaThroughout the week, these tional Carotenoid Society, Richardsmiling, friendly young people Cogdell, the Symposium began fitworked tirelessly to make sure that tingly with a plenary lecture by
everything ran smoothly.
Masayoshi Ito (Japan), one of thegreat names of carotenoid chemThe program followed the pattern istry, who treated us to a survey ofthat has become tradition in this his lifetime’s work synthesizing theinternational symposia series. Sun - most challenging carotenoid strucday afternoon registration was fol- tures. This was followed by a sec52

ond plenary lecture on the High
Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis ofcarotenoids, given by Fred Khachik(USA), President Elect of theInternational Carotenoid Society.
This was followed by a number ofsessions with the customary mix ofplenary lectures, and invited andcontributed talks, supported byposter presentations. The range oftopics covered reflects the great
diversity of the carotenoid field.
As always, the presentations on thephotochemistry and photophysics
of carotenoids, led by the plenary
lecture of Hideki Hashimoto (Ja pan), were remarkable, and evennon-specialists could not fail to be
impressed by the intricate structural details now revealed by X-ray
crystallography of the photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes,
and by studies of transient species
and energy transfer on a femtosecond (10–15 sec) timescale.
Advances in the industrial synthesis of carotenoids were described in
the plenary lecture by Hansgeorg
Ernst (Germany), who gave us foodfor thought by proposing that,when all factors are considered,including use of land, effects onnatural ecosystems and resources,

SIGHT AND LIFE Magazine 2008;3:52–56

15th International Symposium on Carotenoids

clean technology and waste disposal, the production of pure natureidentical carotenoids by chemical
synthesis is at least as environmentally friendly as the natural production that is usually considered‘green.’Takashi Maoka (Japan) gave aprogress report on structural studies of carotenoids in plants and animals, adding to the ever-increasinglist of new carotenoid structures,
and Peter Molnar described morethan 30 years of research on the(E/Z)-isomerization of carotenoids.
Geir Kildahl-Andersen (Norway)
described the formation, characterization and properties of blue formsof carotenoids, and revealed themechanism behind the blue color
formed in the Carr-Price reaction,
which has been used for manyyears for the quantitative analysisof retinol. Methods for the total andpartial synthesis of specific opticalisomers of lutein and zeaxanthin,peridinin analogues, carotenoid
glycosides and stable anioniccarotenoid radicals, and the preparation and properties of various
unusual and novel carotenoid
derivatives were described inposter presentations.
Progress in the study of carotenoid
biosynthesis from the first isolationof the bacterial genes to the current
development of transgenic plants
was surveyed in a plenary lectureby Gerhard Sandmann (Germany),
and recent work with food sources,
especially tomato and maize, andwith oil seed crop plants (linseed,rapeseed) to produce natural oils
containing nutritionally important
carotenoids was reported by aseries of other speakers. The cleavage reactions, enzymes and genes
by which carotenoids are broken
down were also discussed. Manysuch ‘nor-isoprenoids’ make important contributions to flavour,aroma and perfume. This wasexemplified in a talk by Manuela
Mendes-Pinto (Portugal/Australia)
about their contribution to wine
aroma, illustrated by a selection ofwines provided for sampling at an
informal wine party. Other presen-Magazine Issue 3/2008

play of aquatic life, especiallymarine life indigenous to thePacific waters around the Okinawa
Islands. This stunning spectacle,
which was also seen by some as aliving menu or a treasure store ofMembers of the Lycocard group in the poster room
tations discussed the role of thesecompounds in Japanese green tea
and tobacco aroma, and in the perfume of rose flowers. Research on
the carotenoid cleavage reactions,enzymes and genes was included in
the biosynthesis sessions.
It is common practice to include asource of carotenoids in the feed
used for aquaculture of invertebrate
animals and fish. The use of astaxanthin to color the muscle flesh ofsalmon and trout was included in
Wataru Miki’s lecture. A talk andseveral posters reported feeding
and metabolic studies withanemone fish, the red devil andother ornamental fish, the food fish
‘Red Porgy’, sea urchins, and thebrine shrimp Artemia.
A lively Wednesday morning ofposter viewing and discussion led
on to the Symposium Excursion to
the famous Okinawa Churaumi(‘Beautiful Ocean’) Aquarium
which is home to a spectacular dis-

new sources of carotenoids foranalysis, was a reminder of thebeauty, fragility and special ecological importance of the oceans intheir great diversity.
Back at the hotel and changed into
the recommended informal dress,
preferably the Symposium ‘kariyushi’ shirt, we were ready for theConference Dinner, a buffet banquet with whole roasted piglets andmany local and other delicacies, sothat everyone could meet and mingle and enjoy the special entertainment – music, dance and displaysof martial arts. The skills of ourSymposium Secretary Hideki weremost impressive – no one would
step out of line for the rest of themeeting. This was also an occasion
for short speeches and for theawards presentation, graced by thepresence of Miss Okinawa (induplicate), and led by the Presidentof the International Carotenoid
Society, Richard Cogdell. The Otto
Isler Award for long and distin53

SIGHT AND LIFE

guished research in Carotenoid Chemistry was presented to Masayoshi Ito.
Unfortunately, Johannes vonLintig (Germany/USA) was
not present to receive hisTrevor Goodwin Award for
distinguished research incarotenoid biochemistry/biology. Three prizes foryoung scientist poster presentations went to Yoshiro
Iinuma (Japan), ChristerØpstad (Norway) and Emiko
Shibata (Japan).

15th International Symposium on Carotenoids

phism (SNP) variability in the genes
coding for the central and excentriccleavage influences
not only vitamin A
formation but also
lipid metabolism.
Jayant Deshpande(India) describednovel coated-beadlet
formulations fromwhich β-carotene,lycopene and lutein
Synnøve Liaaen-Jensen with two young admirers
are released sequentially at specific time
As expected, there was broad cov- large number of samples. Susan intervals, to avoid competition forerage of carotenoids in human Mayne (USA) reported on the vali- absorption.
nutrition and health. This general- dation of a non-invasive resonancely followed familiar themes – Raman (RR) method for the deter- Poster presentations reported that,anti-cancer, anti-AMD, antioxi- mination of dermal carotenoids. in a healthy aged population, smokdant – with effects demonstrated Comparison with HPLC analysis ing and drinking were associatedin cell cultures, animal experi- showed the RR method to be repro- with decreased carotenoid levels,
ments and some human studies, ducible and reliable for use in cigarette smoke affects the concenthough with some new angles and large-scale human studies.
tration of lycopene and otherinsights.
carotenoids in human plasma, andFew presentations were directly soluble fibres influence theAccurate, reliable and sensitive devoted to the distribution of bioavailability of β-carotene andanalysis is an essential requirement carotenoids in food sources, though lutein. The accumulation of β-crypfor all carotenoid work, not least in the distribution of β-carotene, toxanthin in tissues of ferrets wasnutrition and health studies. In his lycopene and lutein in fruit and dose-dependent and tissue-specificplenary lecture, Fred Khachik gave vegetables commonly consumed inan overview of the reversed-phase India, and the provitamin A qualityand normal phase HPLC proce- of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes indures he has used sucessfully for a Bangladesh and loquat fruit innumber of years to analyze caro- China were reported in posters, astenoid profiles in food, tissues and were analyzes of carotenoids inserum, including the separation of pumpkins, sweet pepper mutants,
cis-trans isomers and of xantho- apples and some indigenous
phyll esters. Daniele Giuffrida Panamanian fruits. The search for(Italy) described LC-LC methods new microbial sources of caroemploying serial coupling of nor- tenoids continues, and surveys ofmal phase/reversed phase, C18/C30, isolates from around the corals
and C30/C30 columns to achieve reefs of Okinawa and of marine
imporoved resolution. Takashi bacteria isolated in Thailand wereNakajima (Japan) assessed the use presented.
of Ultra-performance LC (UPLC)
with stationary phases of very There is great variability amongsmall particle sizes (< 2 µm) to ana- individuals in the efficiency of βlyze carotenoids of human serum. carotene absorption and conversion
The much shorter run times, excel- into vitamin A, with a substantial
lent resolution and high repro- proportion of ‘low responders’.
ducibility make this procedure Franck Tourniare (UK) showed Discussions outside
ideal for routine screening of a that single nucleotide polymor54

15th International Symposium on Carotenoids

focused mainly on the fovea/
macula region of the retina. John
Landrum (USA) presented evidence for the active uptake andmetabolism of lutein and zeaxanthin, and showed how major differences in the topology of xanthophyll end groups help to explain
why meso-zeaxanthin rather thanlutein plays a key role in the macula. A poster by Karol Subczynski(Poland/USA) showed that, inmodel membrane bilayers, dihydroxyxanthophylls, notably lutein,can form raft domains similar tothe ‘cholesterol rafts’ that are
known to influence membrane
dynamics and functions. This could
be significant for the physiologicalroles of xanthophylls.
Masayoshi Ito speaking after
receiving the Otto Isler Awardchanges in the central and excentriccleavage enzymes were reported.
Retinal pigment epithelium cells
take up lutein and zeaxanthin in
preference to β-carotene. Supplementation led to increased luteinand zeaxanthin concentrations inplasma within hours, but it was fourweeks before an increase wasdetected in macular optical density.
A poster by Wolfgang Schalch(Switzerland) gave an overview ofthe literature on the role of lutein
and meso-zeaxanthin in the humanmacula and in protection against
age-related macular degeneration.
Paul Bernstein (USA) described alutein-binding protein in humanretinal tissues, enriched in the macula, and suggested that, besides
absorbing excess blue light andattenuating oxidative damage, themacular pigment may inhibit theformation of the lipofuscin component A2E. Richard Bone (USA)reported the application of an eyetracking method to confirm thatlight and important images wereHelmut Sies (Germany) assessed
the role of lycopene and othercarotenoids in photoprotection ofskin, and Hirono Sasaki (Japan)
described work with human skinfibroblasts and suggested thatlycopene may have potential antiwrinkle benefits against skin aging,through affecting collagen production. Mechanisms for photoprotection of skin by carotenoids weresummarized by Wolfgang Schalch(Switzerland).
In his plenary lecture on carotenoids and cancer, Hoyoku
Nishino (Japan) reported that βcryptoxanthin, alone or in combination with lycopene, showedpromise as a preventive/protective
agent against cancers of skin, lungand liver. The efficient large-scale
synthesis of (3R)-β-cryptoxanthin
described by Hansgeorg Ernst,
makes this compound available forbiological studies. β-Cryptoxan thin-enriched extracts of satsuma
mandarin fruit were reported tohave health-promoting effects inrelation to post-menopausal osteoporosis, fatigue and obesity.

Magazine Issue 3/2008

John Erdman (USA), in his plenary
lecture, asked the question “Arehealth attributes of lycopene related
to antioxidant function?” He concluded that, in general, they are not;the lycopene contration in LDL, forexample, is much too low for any
significant antioxidant protection.
He considered it most likely thatreported effects on cellular andmolecular processes are due to‘lycopenoids’, i.e. apolycopenals
and apolycopenoic acids that aremetabolites/breakdown products oflycopene itself. This was supported
by other presentations describing
work with cell cultures, whichshowed the effects of lycopene
breakdown products on RAR/RXR
pathways, expression of detoxifying and antioxidant enzymes, activation of PPAR␥ and inhibition ofliver cell growth in vivo and invitro, and suppression of proliferation of human colon cancer cells.
These effects were all related to theanti-cancer action of lycopene.
In mice, dietary lutein inhibited
DSS-induced colitis (a risk factor
for colon cancer) and the associateddevelopment of colorectal carcinoma. In cancer cell lines, fucoxanthin and fucoxanthin-rich seaweed
products showed effects on molecular processes including apoptosis,
and had anti-obesity and anti-diabetic effects in mice and rats.
An ‘Astaxanthin Symposium’concentrated mostly on specificaspects of astaxanthin and health.
Astaxanthin is generally notdetected in blood and tissues ofindividuals consuming a ‘normal
diet’ but numerous presentations
reported effects of supplements ofastaxanthin or astaxanthin-rich
extracts in humans and animals
and effects of astaxanthin on
molecular processes in cells inculture. A session on Carotenoids
and Sports Nutrition – a topic notcovered previously in these meet55SIGHT AND LIFEThe Symposium Secretary
Hideki Hashimoto receiving apresent from Miss Okinawa
ings – also dealt mainly withastaxanthin. A plenary lecture by
Stefan Branth (Sweden) was followed by several talks describing
the beneficial effects of astaxanthin on physical performance andendurance. Further information onthese topics was presented inposters.

15th International Symposium on Carotenoids

Research on astaxanthin in relation
to human health and well-being is
at an early stage, but beneficial
effects of astaxanthin were described on eye fatigue, brain function and senile dementia, and photoaging of skin as well as anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and antitumour activity. An interesting newarea suggests that astaxanthin,given as supplements, can influence mitochondrial energy metabolism, stimulating lipid catabolism
and reducing lactate accumulation,and thus help to sustain exercise
performance, reduce fatigue andimprove recovery, and aid weight
management against obesity. If anyof these effects are substantiated,astaxanthin could become acarotenoid of major importance inrelation to human health.
The abstracts of all presentationsare published in an edition ofCarotenoid Science (Volume 12,June 2008), and the texts of plenary and invited lectures will be published in Archives of Biochemistryand Biophysics.

The sun going down over Moon Beach56

What began in 1966 as a small
satellite meeting has now become
the major event in the calendar ofthe International Carotenoid Society; the 15th Symposium wasattended by 293 people from
more than 30 countries. After astimulating and successful week
in Okinawa, the Symposium next
returns to Europe. The International Carotenoid Society and theSymposium Organiser Kazimierz
Strzałka cordially invite all withinterest in any area of carotenoid
science, academic and commercial, to Poland in July 2011 forthe 16th International Symposium
on Carotenoids, which will beheld in the historic city ofKrakow, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. Information about
this meeting will be given on thewebsite of the International
Carotenoid Society(www.carotenoidsociety.org).