Read the
magazine
story to find out more. |
Using gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry, chemist Agnes Rimando analyzes pterostilbene
content in blueberries. Click the image for more information about
it. |
Berry Compound Thwarts Enzyme Linked to
Cancer
By Luis
Pons November 2, 2006
Recent research by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators has
fortified the standing of pterostilbene, a berry and grape compound cited for
its health benefits, as a cancer inhibitor.
During tests employing cell fragments from mice livers, ARS chemist
Agnes
Rimando and colleagues in Poland found that the compound strongly
suppresses a type of an enzyme that activates cancer-causing processes.
Rimando, who works at the ARS
Natural
Products Utilization Research Laboratory in Oxford, Miss., and her
collaborators targeted an enzyme called cytochrome P450, which sets off a
variety of compoundsknown as procarcinogensthat can turn
substances such as cigarette smoke and pesticides into cancer-causing agents.
Cytochromes are a factor in peoples varying responses to drugs and toxins
entering their bodies.
Rimando has led numerous animal studies that focused on pterostilbene
(pronounced "tare-o-STILL-bean") and its potential benefits to human health.
This includes work showing that pterostilbene can help lower cholesterol and
prevent heart disease, and that the compound is present in a genus of shrubs
that includes many types of berries, including blueberries.
Blueberries. Click the image for more
information about it. |
She also led studies that found that the compound is a powerful
antioxidant that shows cancer-fighting properties similar to those of
resveratrol. Indeed, pterostilbene is a derivative of resveratrol, a compound
found in large quantities in the skins of red grapes that's known for its
cardiovascular and cancer-fighting benefits.
In the most recent study, Rimando and scientists led by Renata
Mikstacka at Poland's University of Medical
Science in Poznañ tested pterostilbene and other resveratrol
derivatives.
Pterostilbene showed strong inhibitory activitymuch more than
resveratrolagainst a particular form of cytochrome P450, according to
Rimando. She added that the results may explain the cancer-preventive property
the compound demonstrated in a mouse mammary gland culture assay.
However, Rimando cautioned that more studies are needed to explain
this process, as well as the activity of other trans-resveratrol compounds.
Read more
about this research in the November/December 2006 issue of Agricultural
Research magazine.
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.