Grape Seed Extract Kills Laboratory Leukemia Cells

[Guest guest]

" An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell

suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found

that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukemia cells haddied after being exposed

to the extract.

The investigators, who report their findings in the January 1, 2009, issue of

Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer

Research, also teased apart the cell signaling pathway associated with use of

grape seed extract that led to cell death, or apoptosis. They found that the

extract activates JNK, a protein that regulates the apoptotic pathway.

" While grape seed extract has shown activity in a number of laboratory cancer

cell lines, including skin, breast, colon, lung, stomach and prostate cancers,

no one had tested the extract in hematological cancers nor had the precise

mechanism for activity been revealed.

" These results could have implications for the incorporation of agents such as

grape seed extract into prevention or treatment of hematological malignancies

and possibly other cancers, " said the study's lead author, Xianglin Shi, Ph.D.,

professor in the Graduate Center for Toxicology at the University of Kentucky.

" What everyone seeks is an agent that has an effect on cancer cells but leaves

normal cells alone, and this shows that grape seed extract fits into this

category, " he said.

Shi adds, however, that the research is not far enough along to suggest that

people should eat grapes, grape seeds, or grape skin in excess to stave off

cancer. " This is very promising research, but it is too early to say this is

chemo-protective. " Hematological cancers - leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma -

accounted for an estimated 118,310 new cancer cases and almost 54,000 deaths in

2006, ranking these cancers as the fourth leading cause of cancer incidence and

death in the U.S. Given that epidemiological Hematological cancers - leukemia,

lymphoma and myeloma - accounted for an estimated 118,310 new cancer cases and

almost 54,000 deaths in 2006, ranking these cancers as the fourth leading cause

of cancer incidence and death in the U.S.

" Given that epidemiological evidence shows that eating vegetables and fruits

helps prevent cancer development, Shi and his colleagues have been studying

chemicals known as proanthocyanidins in fruits that contribute to this effect.

Shi has found that apple peel extract contains these flavonoids, which have

antioxidant activity, and which cause apoptosis in several cancer cell lines but

not in normal cells. Based on those studies, and findings from other researchers

that grape seed extract reduces breast tumors in rats and skin tumors in mice,

they looked at the effect of the compound in leukemia cells. Using a

commercially available grape seed extract, Shi exposed leukemia cells to the

extract in different doses and found the marked effect in causing apoptosis in

these cells at one of the higher doses.

" The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the

latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout

the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research,

treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes five major peer-reviewed

journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer

Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &

Prevention. The AACR's most recent publication and its sixth major journal,

Cancer Prevention Research, is dedicated exclusively to cancer prevention, from

preclinical research to clinical trials. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine

for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and

scientists. CR provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based

information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and

advocacy.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/134016.php

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FYI,

Lottie