Administration of Lycopene and Beta-Carotene Decreased Risks of Pneumonia among Children

This study aimed to investigate the effect of lycopene and beta-carotene on pneumonia among children. Forty infant and child aged 6 to 36 months suffer from pneumonia and admitted Bab El-Shaareya Hospital for treatment were selected for this study. The children divided into four equal groups; control group (CG), beta carotene group (BCG), lycopene group (LYG) and mixture (lycopene+beta-carotene) group (MG). All subjects were received hospital meal without any modification, while BCG received 15mg/day of beta carotene; LYG received 15 mg/day of lycopene and MG received 7.5 mg/day lycopene +7.5 mg/day beta carotene. All groups received hospital meal in addition to tested carotenoid that dissolved in orange juice. The intervention period continued for 14 consecutive days. The respiratory rate (RR) and temperature were measured daily till recovery. Also, WBCs, IgE and IgG were determined at admission and after intervention period. Results showed that RR of MG and LYG groups returned normal after 21.6±7.2 and 26.4±10.4 hours respectively at P<0.05, while CG recovered after 37.2±13.6 hours. Moreover, administration of lycopene decreased RR significantly (P<0.05) by 37.6%, while administration of beta carotene or the mixture resulted in decrement of RR by 33.4% and 28.4% respectively. Also, the administration of lycopene reduced IgE significantly (P<0.05) by 63.7%, followed by the mixture that reduced it by 40.7% (P<0.05). In conclusion the administration of lycopene alone or mixed with beta carotene had a favorable affect on recovery of pneumonia among children.