Protection against cancer

The claimed health-promoting activities exerted by bifidobacteria are numerous, and include establishment of a healthy microbiota in preterm infants, cholesterol reduction, lactose intolerance, prevention of infectious diarrhea, prevention of cancer, protection against infectious diseases, modulation of mucosal barrier function, amino acid and vitamin production, inhibition of nitrate reduction, stimulation of calcium uptake by enterocytes, short-chain fatty acid production, stimulation of intestinal epithelia through induction of anti-inflammatory c5dokine interleukin (IL)-IO and junctional adhesion molecules. ... 

The accident at the Three Mile Island (TMI) plant in Pennsylvania in 1979 led to many safety and environmental improvements (4—6). No harm from radiation resulted to TMI workers, to the pubHc, or to the environment (7,8), although the accident caused the loss of a 2 x 10 investment. The accident at the Chernobyl plant in the Ukraine in 1986, on the other hand, caused the deaths of 31 workers from high doses of radiation, increased the chance of cancer later in life for thousands of people, and led to radioactive contamination of large areas. This latter accident was unique to Soviet-sponsored nuclear power. The Soviet-designed Chemobyl-type reactors did not have the intrinsic protection against a mnaway power excursion that is requited in the test of the world, not was there a containment building (9—11). 

An alkene, sometimes caJled an olefin, is a hydrocarbon that contains a carbon-carbon double bond. Alkenes occur abundantly in nature. Ethylene, for instance, is a plant hormone that induces ripening in fruit, and o-pinene is the major component of turpentine. Life itself would be impossible without such alkenes as /3-carotene, a compound that contains 11 double bonds. An orange pigment responsible for the color of carrots, /3-carotene is a valuable dietary source of vitamin A and is thought to offer some protection against certain types of cancer. 

TALALAY p (1991) Chemical Protection Against Cancer by Inducation of Electrophile Detoxification (phase 2) Enzymes Cellular Molec Targets Chemoprev, 1-11. 

TALALAY p and FAHEY j w (2001) Phytochemicals from cruciferous plants protect against cancer by modulating carcinogen metabolism , JNutr, 131 3027S-33S. 

OGUNI I, CHEN s J, LIN p z and KARA Y (1992) Protection against cancer risk by Japanese green tea , Prev Med, 21, 332-3. 

HAGUE A, DIAZ G D, HICKS D J, KRAJEWSKI s, REED c, PARASKEVA c (1997) Blc-2 and bak may play a pivotal role in sodium butyrate-induced apoptosis in colonic epithelial cells however over expression of blc-2 does not protect against bak-mediated apoptosis. Int. J. Cancer 72 898-905. 

MCINTYRE A, GIBSON p R YOUNG G p (1993) Butyrate production from dietary fiber and protection against large bowel cancer in a rat model. Gut 34 386-91. 

In animals, the major function of carotenoids is as a precursor to the formation of vitamin A. Carotenoids with provitamin A activity are essential components of the human diet, and there is considerable evidence that they are absorbed through the diet and often metabohzed into other compounds. Beyond their important role as a source of vitamin A for humans, dietary carotenoids, including those that are not provitamin A carotenoids, have been implicated as protecting against certain forms of cancer and cardiovascular disease. ... 

Carotenoids and urino-digestive cancers — On the whole, findings from epidemiological studies did not demonstrate a protective role of carotenoids against colorectal, gastric, and bladder cancers. Indeed, most prospective and case-control studies of colorectal cancer showed no association with dietary intake or plasma level of most carotenoids. - Only lycopene and lutein were shown to be protective against colorectal cancer. Otherwise, findings from the ATBC study s showed no effect of P-carotene supplementation on colorectal cancer. 

Jian, L. et al.. Do dietary lycopene and other carotenoids protect against prostate cancer Int. J. Cancer, 113, 1010, 2005. 

Astaxanthin is a powerful bioactive antioxidant and has demonstrated efficacy in animal and human models of macular degeneration, a cause of blindness in a large population. It is also helpful in treating Alzheimer s and Parkinson s diseases and is known to offer protection against cancer. 

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