Research Article

The Effect of Lycopene Preexposure on UV-B-Irradiated Human Keratinocytes

Table 1

Limitations of different vehicles used for lycopene cell delivery (adapted from Lin et al. [27]).

VehicleLimitationsReferences

Tetrahydrofuran
(THF)
Rapid oxidation in media, leading to lycopene instability and cytotoxicity[17, 20, 22, 2832]

Dimethyl sulfoxide
(DMSO)
Reduced solvent capacity for carotenoids (0.01 mg/mL for lycopene)[20, 3335]

TweenPossible oxidation of carotenoids, after solvent drying and filtration[31]

MicellesLow carotenoid stabilization and increased cytotoxicity[20, 27, 36]

Water-dispersible beadletsLow toxicity, but also low cellular uptake, depends on chemicals that interfere in assays (e.g., hexane and chloroform)[29, 37, 38]