14 DAY TRIAL // Certain substances that can be found in several plants, when given in combinations, can eliminate the damage that causes skin cancer, scientists from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio found.
These substances, which can be found in grapes, walnuts, berries and other plant-based foods, were tested on mice genetically manipulated to be sensitive to skin cancer.
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Zbigniew Walaszek, research associate professor of pharmacology at the Health Science Center said that on the basis of this research “supplements and creams or sunscreens may be developed, tested in humans and then used to prevent skin cancer.”
Among the “miraculous” agents are resveratrol, which is usually found in the skin of red grapes and in grape seed extract, but also calcium D-glucarate, a salt of D-glucaric acid, present in the human bloodstream and in many fruits and vegetables, and ellagic acid, found in berries and walnuts.
All these compounds work in different ways so the best results come from their mix, and scientists have been giving the agents to mice, both topically and in the diet.
For the study, researchers have shaved the back of mice and applied a chemical that produced a genetic mutation, causing skin cancer, twice a week, for four weeks.
Simultaneously, they applied topical resveratrol and fed the mice different combinations of the plant substances, before measuring several outcomes, the thickness of the skin included.
Mutations in the Ha-ras - a biomarker of cancer debut, were also monitored, as well as inflammation, reported Laboratory Equipment.
The results showed that even small doses of plant agent combinations had protective effects, and Margaret Hanausek, Walaszek's colleague and research associate professor of pharmacology, says that they could be very important for people who are at risk for skin cancer, as well as other cancers that involve epithelial cells, like lung cancer.
She said that “the combined inhibitory effects of different plant chemicals are expected to be particularly beneficial to, for example, smokers, former smokers or individuals with heavily tanned skin, who carry thousands of cells already initiated for malignant transformation.”