**Contents**


Mechanisms of Astaxanthin in the Protection against Alcoholic Liver Disease in Mice Reprinted from: *Mar. Drugs* **2019**, *17*, 181, doi:10.3390/md17030181 ................. **129**




## **About the Editors**

**Tatsuya Sugawara** received an MS in Agriculture from Tohoku University in 1993. Tatsuya was a research worker for NOF CORPORATION from 1993 to 1997, before receiving a PhD in Agriculture from Tohoku University in 2000. Tatsuya was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Food Research Institute from 2000 to 2002 and a Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Institute of Health and Nutrition from 2002 to 2004. Finally, Tatsuya worked as an Associate Professor at Kyoto University from 2004 to 2013, before becoming a Full Professor in 2013.

**Takashi Maoka** was awarded an MS from Kyoto Pharmaceutical University in 1981. Takashi then began as a research assistant in the Department of Natural Product Chemistry of Kyoto Pharmaceutical University and graduated with a PhD in 1991. Takashi became Chief Researcher of Food Chemistry in Research Institute for Production Development in 1993 and Director of Research Institute for Production Development in 2017.

## **Preface to "Marine Carotenoids"**

Carotenoids represent a large group of isoprenoid structures with many different structural characteristics and biological activities. They are the most important pigments of those occurring in nature and are responsible for the various colors of different fruits, vegetables, and plant parts. Marine carotenoids are responsible for the color of many fish, shellfish, and algae. However, while there are many available papers and reviews on carotenoids of terrestrial origin, there has been relatively little research on the impact of marine carotenoids on human health.

Research on the potential beneficial effects of marine carotenoids has been particularly focused on astaxanthin and fucoxanthin, as they are major marine carotenoids. Both carotenoids show strong antioxidant activity, which is attributed to quenching singlet oxygen and scavenging free radicals. The potential role of the carotenoids as dietary antioxidants has been suggested to be one of the main mechanisms for their preventive effects against cancer, inflammation, etc. However, it is difficult to explain their biological activities based only antioxidant activity. Other mechanisms of action that are independent to their antioxidant properties are also likely to play a role. The mechanisms should be based on the regulatory effects of marine carotenoids on particular bio-molecules. This activity of carotenoids is responsible for the characteristic chemical structures, which differ depending on the length of the polyene, nature of the end group, and the substituents they contain.

This Topical Collection of *Marine Drugs* is dedicated to marine carotenoids, and will be focused on the benefits of carotenoids for human beings. For a better understanding of the physiological effects of marine carotenoids, this collection will include recent developments in the presence, analysis, chemistry, and biochemistry of marine carotenoids. We are pleased to serve as Editors for this collection and sincerely hope it will encourage other scientists to work in the exciting field of marine carotenoids.

> **Tatsuya Sugawara, Takashi Maoka** *Editors*

*Review* 
