Colorful Berry Pigment Kills Leukemia

[Guest guest]

[Also see article on leukemia following sources of first article]

 

Article from Vital Choices Newsletter

(http://newsletter.vitalchoice.com/e_article000804041.cfm?x=b9rpsq1,b1kJkvww)

 

April 26, 2007

 

Colorful Berry Pigment Kills Leukemia

 

Antioxidant food factor in raspberries, strawberries, grapes, and tart

cherries kills cancer cells via multiple means

by Craig Weatherby

 

Berries and other colorful fruits are abundant in the beneficial

antioxidant compounds called polyphenols, many of which also function as

bright pigments.

 

Most plant polyphenols demonstrate beneficial cardiovascular and

anti-cancer effects in test tube and animal tests.

 

These findings dovetail with population studies that link higher intake

of colorful fruits and vegetables -- and of whole grains, which are also

high in polyphenols -- to lower rates of cancer and heart disease.

 

Anthocyanins – the antioxidant pigments that turn autumn leaves red

and purple – rank high among the many kinds of beneficial polyphenols.

 

The richest food sources of anthocyanins include blueberries,

strawberries, raspberries, tart cherries, cranberries, currants, grapes,

pomegranate, and acai (ah-sigh-yee): an Amazonian fruit.

 

Anti-cancer findings reported this week serve to make the delicious

fruit sources of anthocyanin-type polyphenols even

more attractive.

 

The new findings focus on a particular anthocyanin, found most

abundantly in raspberries, strawberries, grapes, and tart cherries.

 

All of these reddish fruits are rich in a particular anthocyanin –

called cyanidin-3-rutinoside -- that appears to exert powerful

preventive effects against leukemia: impacts that also suggest possible

therapeutic promise.

  

Pittsburgh team uncovers anti-leukemia power in red-purple foods

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh wanted to see what would

happen to human leukemia cells exposed to a particular anthocyanin

abundant in raspberries, strawberries, grapes, and cherries (Feng R et

al 2007).

 

His team's motivation was expressed by co-author Xiao-Ming Yin,

M.D., Ph.D.: " Current treatments for leukemia, such as chemotherapy and

radiation, often damage healthy cells and tissues and can produce

unwanted side effects for many years afterward. So, there is an

intensive search for more targeted therapies for leukemia worldwide. "

(University of Pittsburgh 2007)

 

They exposed several leukemia and lymphoma cell lines to

cyanidin-3-rutinoside, which is among the most common types of

anthocyanin, extracted in this case from black raspberries.

 

They reported that cyanidin-3-rutinoside induced apoptosis (cellular

suicide) in leukemia cells of the HL-60 type. The killing effect was

clearly due to the anthocyanin alone, since it destroyed cancer

cells to degrees of effectiveness that varied by the dose.

 

Paradoxically, even though this anthocyanin compound generally acts as a

potent antioxidant, it killed the cancer cells in part by acting as a

" pro-oxidant " agent.

 

Specifically, it generated the peroxide free radicals which stimulates

the leukemia cells to commit suicide. (These are the same kind

of free radicals that certain human immune-system cells use to kill

bacteria.)

 

The potent berry pigment also activated genetic switches called p38 MAPK

and JNK, which facilitated increased suicide rates among the human

leukemia cells.

 

Better yet, the anthocyanin compound had no toxic effects on normal

blood cells.

 

As the researchers said, " These results indicate that

cyanidin-3-rutinoside [has] the promising potential to be used in

leukemia therapy with the advantages of being widely available and being

selective [in acting only] against tumors. " (Feng R et al 2007)

 

In other words, berries may offer chemotherapeutic benefits, without the

adverse effects associated with most chemotherapy drugs.

 

The caveat, of course, is that these results need to be confirmed in

animal tests, then in humans.

 

The broadly positive record from animal tests make it clear that

raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, tart cherries, cranberries,

currants, grapes, and other red-purple fruits offer significant

protection against cancer in general, and may also aid in treating

tumors.

  

Sources

·         Chen F, Sun Y, Zhao G, Liao X, Hu X, Wu J,

Wang Z. Optimization of ultrasound-assisted extraction of anthocyanins

in red raspberries and identification of anthocyanins in extract using

high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Ultrason

Sonochem. 2007 Jan 20; [Epub ahead of print] 

·         Chen PN, Chu SC, Chiou HL, Kuo WH, Chiang

CL, Hsieh YS. Mulberry anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-rutinoside and cyanidin

3-glucoside, exhibited an inhibitory effect on the migration and

invasion of a human lung cancer cell line. Cancer Lett. 2006 Apr

28;235(2):248-59. Epub 2005 Jun 22.

·         Feng R, Ni HM, Wang SY, Tourkova IL, Shurin

MR, Harada H, Yin XM. Cyanidin-3-rutinoside, a natural polyphenol

antioxidant, selectively kills leukemic cells by induction of oxidative

stress. J Biol Chem. 2007 Mar 20; [Epub ahead of print]

·         Garcia-Alonso M, Rimbach G, Rivas-Gonzalo

JC, De Pascual-Teresa S. Antioxidant and cellular activities of

anthocyanins and their corresponding vitisins A--studies in platelets,

monocytes, and human endothelial cells. J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Jun

2;52(11):3378-84. 

·         Lopes-da-Silva F, Pascual-Teresa SD,

Rivas-Gonzalo JC, Santos-Buelga C. Identification of anthocyanin

pigments in strawberry (cv Camarosa) by LC using DAD and ESI-MS

detection. European Food Research and Technology. Issue Volume 214,

Number 3 / March, 2002. DOI 10.1007/s00217-001-0434-5; Pages 248-253.

·         Seeram NP, Bourquin LD, Nair MG. Degradation

products of cyanidin glycosides from tart cherries and their

bioactivities. J Agric Food Chem. 2001 Oct;49(10):4924-9.

·         Seeram NP, Momin RA, Nair MG, Bourquin LD.

Cyclooxygenase inhibitory and antioxidant cyanidin glycosides in

cherries and berries. Phytomedicine. 2001 Sep;8(5):362-9. 

·         Shih PH, Yeh CT, Yen GC. Effects of

anthocyanidin on the inhibition of proliferation and induction of

apoptosis in human gastric adenocarcinoma cells. Food Chem Toxicol. 2005

Oct;43(10):1557-66.

·         Tian Q, Giusti MM, Stoner GD, Schwartz SJ.

Urinary excretion of black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) anthocyanins

and their metabolites. J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Feb 22;54(4):1467-72. 

·         University of Pittsburgh. A Natural

Antioxidant Found in Many Foods and Red Wine Is Potent and Selective

Killer of Leukemia Cells: University of Pittsburgh Researchers Show

Compound Kills Leukemia Cells While Sparing Normal, Healthy Cells.

Accessed online April 24, 2007 at

http://upmc.com/Communications/NewsBureau/NewsReleaseArchives/2007/April/YinLeuk\

emiaStudy.htm

·         Yeh CT, Yen GC. Induction of apoptosis by

the Anthocyanidins through regulation of Bcl-2 gene and activation of

c-Jun N-terminal kinase cascade in hepatoma cells. J Agric Food Chem.

2005 Mar 9;53(5):1740-9.  

 

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Leukemia: less common than

other cancers, but more dangerous

 

According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, some 35,000 new cases of

leukemia were diagnosed in the United States in 2006.

 

This makes leukemia much less common than breast, lung, colon, or

prostate cancers, but what it lacks in numbers, this class of cancers

makes up for in insidiousness.

 

Survival rates vary widely by type of leukemia, but the average

five-year survival rate for leukemia ranks much lower than those for

breast or colon cancer, with just under half of all patients enduring

for five years.

 

More than half of all cases occur after age 64, with men accounting for

more than 57 percent of leukemia cases.

 

While leukemia strikes nine times as many adults as children, it

constitutes a whopping one-third of cancers in children aged 0-14 years.

 

Signs of acute leukemia may include blood-related symptoms such as easy

bruising or bleeding, paleness or easy fatigue, recurrent minor

infections, or poor healing of minor cuts.

 

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