Cited by 2,150Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative StressFree Radicals and AntioxidantsPhytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities

β-Carotene: an Unusual Type of Lipid Antioxidant

Burton, G. W., Ingold, K. U.·1984·Science

Abstract

The mechanism of lipid peroxidation and the manner in which antioxidants function is reviewed. β-Carotene is a purported anticancer agent, which is believed by some to have antioxidant action of a radical-trapping type. However, definitive experimental support for such action has been lacking. New experiments in vitro show that β-carotene belongs to a previously unknown class of biological antioxidants. Specifically, it exhibits good radical-trapping antioxidant behavior only at partial pressures of oxygen significantly less than 150 torr, the pressure of oxygen in normal air. Such low oxygen partial pressures are found in most tissues under physiological conditions. At higher oxygen pressures, β-carotene loses its antioxidant activity and shows an autocatalytic, prooxidant effect, particularly at relatively high concentrations. Similar oxygen-pressure-dependent behavior may be shown by other compounds containing many conjugated double bonds.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1126/science.6710156

Cites

61 of 61 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Burton, G. W., & Ingold, K. U.
Affiliations
National Research Council Canada (CA)
Venue
Science
Published
1984-05-11
Volume
224
Issue
4649
Pages
569-573
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2033624890
Cited by
2,150
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 31 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 55 · 2014: 55 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 64
FWCI
36.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • NPARC (acceptedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Free Radicals and Antioxidants
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities
Keywords
beta-carotene, lipid peroxidation, lipid antioxidants, radical trapping, oxygen partial pressure, pro-oxidant activity, autocatalytic oxidation, anticancer agents, conjugated polyenes, antioxidant defense
MeSH terms
Antioxidants, Carotenoids, Chemistry, Free Radicals, Humans, Linoleic Acids, Oxidation-Reduction, Oxygen, Partial Pressure, Peroxides, Tetrahydronaphthalenes, beta Carotene, Lipid Metabolism, Chemical Phenomena

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review