Lycopene levels, ageing and heart disease
What it found
Low blood levels of lycopene are linked to ageing, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and the authors say food alone may not fix the shortage.
The evidence comes from people, animals and lab tests.
What they found
Studies in people
Low levels and death
Low serum lycopene and total carotenoid levels strongly predict death from any cause and poor outcomes in heart disease. This was found in the adult population of the USA.
Ageing and absorption
Older people have lower blood lycopene than younger people with similar diet and ethnic background. Stomach and gut changes with age, and shifts in gut bacteria, are thought to reduce absorption.
Heart disease studies
People with higher lycopene intake had less heart attack, angina and coronary insufficiency in the Framingham Heart Offspring Study. Low plasma lycopene has been reported in high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and hardening of the arteries.
Food versus blood levels
There is a poor statistical link between how much lycopene people eat and their blood levels. This is because lycopene from food is poorly absorbed.
Animal and lab studies
Lycopene breakdown
Oxidative stress and enzymes that make reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide can break down lycopene in blood and tissues. This was shown in cell-free plasma and isolated lipoproteins.
Animal heart findings
In animal models of heart disease, lycopene normalised nitric oxide synthase activity and nitric oxide in coronary arteries, blocked a cholesterol-making pathway, improved endothelial function and reduced inflammation.
What the authors conclude
“Therefore, new nutraceutical formulations of carotenoids with enhanced bioavailability are urgently needed.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say it is very unlikely that nutritional intervention alone will be sufficient to correct carotenoid deficiency.
- They advise that new nutraceutical formulations of carotenoids and lycopene with enhanced bioavailability are urgently needed.
- They suggest that plasma concentration of lycopene, but not dietary intake, correlates with predisposition to stroke.
How it was done
The authors wanted to explain why lycopene levels drop in ageing and heart disease, and why eating more lycopene-rich food may not raise blood levels enough.
They pulled together existing studies on lycopene: how it is absorbed, how it is broken down, and how blood levels relate to ageing, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The studies included people, animals and lab tests.
What it can’t tell you
- Many of the findings come from animal and lab studies, so they cannot show what happens in people.
- The studies that follow people over time can show a link between lycopene levels and disease, but not that low lycopene causes it.
- The authors note that clinical trials of lycopene in heart disease patients have given conflicting results.
The paper
- Title
- Lycopene Deficiency in Ageing and Cardiovascular Disease
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Petyaev IM (2016). Lycopene Deficiency in Ageing and Cardiovascular Disease. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity. doi:10.1155/2016/3218605Free full textPubMed 26881023DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error