All antioxidants are not the same
There have been a few mouse studies that have shown that the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) leads to cancer progression in different kinds of cancers (lung, melanoma) by reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreasing expression of P53.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/15100...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24477002
There was also a study showing high doses of folic acid (which also acts as an antioxidant) could drive existing breast cancer growth. But other studies showed folic acid could reduce the risk of getting cancer in the first place.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/271601.ph...
So, the thought is that antioxidants might by good in preventing cancer by mopping up free radicals, including ROS's, but once you have cancer, they interfere with processes by which ROS's kill cancer.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21953120
And I just saw a study on the components of turmeric and lemongrass oil (both antioxidants), that showed that, in vitro, they (alone and synergistically) generated ROS and activated p53 to cause apoptosis in breast cancer cells. Which is the opposite of what NAC did!
http://synapse.koreamed.org/DOIx.php?id=10.4048/jbc.2015.18.3.225&vmode=PUBREADER
Which makes me think we need to be very careful about treating antioxidants as a single entity, when there are real differences in how they function.
Comments
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The dose also matters. In any case if ROS is generated then it is by definition a pro-oxidant, which can happen with megadoses of antioxidants.
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Thank you for posting these links.
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Fallleaves, great post thank you. I was confused about all that.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151014134537.htm
Antioxidant use may promote spread of cancer.
"This finding also opens up the possibility that when treating cancer, we should test whether increasing oxidative stress through the use of pro-oxidants would prevent metastasis," said Dr. Morrison.
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Falleaves, Heidihill, thank you both for posting these links. Very informative.
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I wonder if wine is an anti-oxidant?
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Another:
Oxidative stress inhibits distant metastasis by human melanoma cells
- Elena Piskounova,
- Michalis Agathocleous,
- Malea M. Murphy,
- Zeping Hu,
- Sara E. Huddlestun,
- Zhiyu Zhao,
- A. Marilyn Leitch,
- Timothy M. Johnson,
- Ralph J. DeBerardinis
- & Sean J. Morrison
- Nature
- (2015)
- doi:10.1038/nature15726
- Published online
- 14 October 2015
Solid cancer cells commonly enter the blood and disseminate systemically, but are highly inefficient at forming distant metastases for poorly understood reasons. Here we studied human melanomas that differed in their metastasis histories in patients and in their capacity to metastasize in NOD-SCID-Il2rg−/− (NSG) mice. We show that melanomas had high frequencies of cells that formed subcutaneous tumours, but much lower percentages of cells that formed tumours after intravenous or intrasplenic transplantation, particularly among inefficiently metastasizing melanomas. Melanoma cells in the blood and visceral organs experienced oxidative stress not observed in established subcutaneous tumours. Successfully metastasizing melanomas underwent reversible metabolic changes during metastasis that increased their capacity to withstand oxidative stress, including increased dependence on NADPH-generating enzymes in the folate pathway. Antioxidants promoted distant metastasis in NSG mice. Folate pathway inhibition using low-dose methotrexate, ALDH1L2 knockdown, or MTHFD1 knockdown inhibited distant metastasis without significantly affecting the growth of subcutaneous tumours in the same mice. Oxidative stress thus limits distant metastasis by melanoma cells in vivo.
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Marijen, good question about the wine. Red wine has resveratrol, which is an antioxidant, but not sure whether the alcohol part of wine has any effect on oxidation either way.
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If I were to guess, I'd say alcohol causes oxidation.... we'll get the answer.
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Marijen, it looks like you are right...http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh27-4/277...
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Thanks Fallleaves. Great article, I saved it. And that is why everything in moderation....
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