aflatoxin and chlorophyl study

[Guest guest]

Contact: Mata

john.mata@...

541-737-6874

Oregon State University

Chlorophylls effective against aflatoxin

This release is available in Chinese.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - A new study has found that chlorophyll and its

derivative chlorophyllin are effective in limiting the absorption of

aflatoxin in humans. Aflatoxin is produced by a fungus that is a

contaminant of grains including corn, peanuts and soybeans; it is known

to cause liver cancer - and can work in concert with other health

concerns, such as hepatitis.

Levels of aflatoxin are carefully regulated in the United States, but

are often found in the food supplies of developing nations, especially

those with poor storage facilities.

OSU scientist , a distinguished professor of environmental

and molecular toxicology, pioneered studies of aflatoxin in China, where

he found that in one region, one out of every 10 adults died from liver

cancer.

But what has the science world particularly intrigued with this follow-

up study is the methodology used by the researchers - a new " Phase 0 "

approach that safely tests low levels of carcinogens in human volunteers

to measure the total aflatoxin exposure and to determine the effect of

dietary chlorophlls on reducing this exposure.

Results of the study were just published in the journal Cancer

Prevention Research.

and several other researchers, including lead author Carole

Jubert, were part of the recent study. The journal also included a

perspective written by a pair of s Hopkins researchers -

Kensler and Groopman - who praise the methodology and suggest that

these Phase 0 " microdosing " studies should be expanded.

They wrote: " ...microdosing studies with carcinogens have the potential to

provide important insights into chemopreventive interventions and to

enhance the overall clinical development and safety evaluation of

preventive agents. "

The Phase 0 study " ...may open the door for all kinds of new research, "

said Jubert, a former researcher in 's lab at OSU's Linus ing

Institute. Jubert now works for Life Microsystems, an OSU spinoff

company that hopes to continue work with natural products grown in

Oregon, including pure chlorophylls.

" The technology is not particularly difficult, " she added. " It's just a

novel approach to evaluate toxin exposure in humans. "

In their study, Jubert and her colleagues gave very low doses of

aflatoxin labeled with carbon-14 isotopes as a tracer to four human

volunteers. They then gave the volunteers the same doses of aflatoxin

along with doses of either chlorophyll or chlorophyllin, which

previously had been shown to reduce carcinogen bioavailability in trout

and rats. Using an accelerator mass spectrometer, they measured the rate

of aflaxtoxin bioavailability. This technique is extremely sensitive,

the researchers say, allowing measurement of minute amounts of any

labeled compound.

Their research revealed rapid absorption of aflatoxin, which was

significantly limited after the chlorophyll and chlorophyllin treatments.

" The beauty of this kind of 'Phase 0' study is the use of ultra-

sensitive technology and 'microdoses' of environmental carcinogens to

study toxicokinetics within the human body, " said Mata, an OSU

pharmacologist and second author on the study. " These measurements can

be important because they allow us to better design future studies to

understand the effects of dietary constituents on cancer risk.

" In this case, clearly the results merit further study, " Mata added. " We

showed that aflatoxin is absorbed quite rapidly and that chlorophyll and

chlorophyllin have an ameliorating effect, preventing the toxin from

getting into the bloodstream. Further studies can more precisely explore

the interactions, as well as dosage levels. "

Jubert and Mata also have tested the feasibility of using similar

technology on human exposure to other toxins, including smokers who

ingest carcinogens through cigarette smoke.

Mata, a professor in OSU's College of Veterinary Medicine, is a

pharmacologist who previously worked in the drug industry. He said Phase

1 studies are designed to see if a compound is safe; Phase 2 expands the

scope of the project, and Phase 3 looks at the compounds' efficacy.

Phase 0 represents a new concept - a way to measure the kinetics of a

drug by using extremely small doses that pose little risk to the volunteers.

In this case, the amount of radiation given the human volunteers was

equal to that you would encounter from a one-hour airplane ride; the

level of aflatoxin administered was 1/30th the amount the Food and Drug

Administration allows in a peanut butter sandwich.

[Guest guest]

Interesting. This may be why so many people report feeling better when they

incorporate 'green juicing' as part of their health program, including myself,

where you get alot of chlorophyl, so much so that the down side is frequent

trips to grocery to pick up the bulky green veggies to juice. I may switch to

juicing that leaves the pulp in so total vegetable is used and not so many

vegetables have to be bought. Right now not doing it due to inconvenience of

being on crutches but as soon as I can run around easier, my juicer is ready to

go. I used to be able to buy a freshly made green juice drink at Whole Foods

but they changed their drink options to only include some green vegetables but

you have to choose cucumber, carrot or some other vegetable for the bulk of the

drink because they were going through too many greens also. Iknow a few times I

went in to buy kale or spinach and they were out because their juice bar was

going through them so fast, so now their veggie juices just have a bit of green

in them.

>

> Contact: Mata

> john.mata@...

> 541-737-6874

> Oregon State University

> Chlorophylls effective against aflatoxin

>

> This release is available in Chinese.

>

> CORVALLIS, Ore. - A new study has found that chlorophyll and its

> derivative chlorophyllin are effective in limiting the absorption of

> aflatoxin in humans. Aflatoxin is produced by a fungus that is a

> contaminant of grains including corn, peanuts and soybeans; it is known

> to cause liver cancer - and can work in concert with other health

> concerns, such as hepatitis.

>

>