Interactive effects of β-carotene and anthocyanins on cellular uptake, antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory activity in vitro and ex vivo

This study investigated the bioactivity interactions in vitro and ex vivo, and cellular uptake interaction between β-carotene and some common anthocyanins. The combined antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of β-carotene and different anthocyanins were assessed in both chemical and biological systems. Bioactivity synergy was seen in none of the combinations in no system studied. Some mixtures even showed antagonistic effects. All of the tested anthocyanins except for delphinidin-3-glucoside, tested at 7.5 μM, significantly improved the cellular uptake of β-carotene (2.5 μM) by 68-200% although such increases of β-carotene intracellular content did not lead to an enhancement of the combined bioactivities. The increase of β-carotene absorption to a particular concentration facilitated the pro-oxidant activity of β-carotene. This effect could be partly responsible for the bioactivity antagonism seen in some of the combinations.