2013-12-23 15:04:56
As we know, cancer is a disease caused by mutations in some genes, particularly those that control cell reproduction, since cancer is characterized by uncontrolled cell growth. This implies that substances that have the property of preventing cancer must be able to avoid mutations in DNA. However, it is also possible that certain antitumor substances have the ability to help repair DNA if it is damaged, for example after being exposed to certain chemicals, such as many of those found in tobacco smoke, or high-energy radiation, such as x-rays or γ-rays.
In fact, all our cells have molecular mechanisms for DNA repair, which, don’t panic, frequently suffers damage. Let’s consider that our genome has three billion letters linked one after the other. Although they are organized into our 23 chromosomes, they still contain long strings of letters up to hundreds of millions of them. It is easy for chains to become tangled, or even broken, and they need to be untangled or repaired when they break.
DNA breakdown can occur through exposure to ionizing radiation, such as the ultraviolet radiation that we happily voluntarily receive on a morning at the beach. Harmful UVA radiation can cause breaks in one or both strands of DNA in skin cells. Fortunately, the molecular DNA repair machinery is usually effective in repairing this damage.
The rebellion of the wounded
However, if the damage caused to the DNA is too intense, the cuts and cuts too numerous, it cannot be repaired. In this case, the cell detects that the damage is irreparable and sets in motion molecular mechanisms that cause its own death. The cell sees no future for its life, and decides to commit suicide. Badly injured cells are usually obedient and resigned to their own fate, and end their lives.
But not all wounded cells resign themselves to death. In some cases, the cellular suicide mechanisms, which all cells possess, fail, perhaps because the damage caused to the DNA itself prevents them from functioning properly. In that case, the mutant cell becomes attached to life and, depending on the mutations it has suffered, it can become a tumor cell, begin to reproduce uncontrollably and die, killing all the other companions in the organism, even if the poor ones do not have blame for nothing. The righteous always pay for sinners, even if they are just cells.
Fortunately, decades of studies on food plants have shown that many of them contain substances that prevent or hinder tumor development. It is now well known that a diet rich in vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli is associated with a lower incidence of several types of cancer. Scientific research has even been able to identify the substance responsible for the protective activity against tumors contained in these plants. This is 3-indole-carbinol (3IC), a substance closely related to one of the essential amino acids in the diet: tryptophan. A diet supplemented with 3IC protects against the development of cancer in laboratory animals.
Anti-radiation protection
Subsequent investigations revealed that the protective substance was not 3IC itself, but a substance derived from its metabolism, called DIM (3,3′-diindolylmethane). Other studies have shown that direct ingestion of DIM appears to be safe in rodents and humans, so DIM could be a new pharmacological agent capable of preventing the development of tumors.
But in order to be used safely, it is advisable to know the mechanism by which a drug works. This is what, in the case of DIM, a group of scientists from several American and Chinese universities set out to discover. Specifically, and given the chemical characteristics of DIM, the researchers studied whether it was capable of protecting against the effects of radiation.
To find out, the researchers exposed laboratory rats to a dose of γ-rays enough to kill them in just ten days. Two hours after this irradiation, they were injected with a good dose of DIM. Surprisingly, 60% of them survived for more than 30 days, apparently in good health. If DIM was injected 24 hours after irradiation, only 30% of the animals survived, which was still a formidable result. These studies have been published in the journal Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers are also finding out how DIM exerts its effects. It apparently stimulates the DNA repair machinery above normal, allowing it to repair damage it otherwise couldn’t. Does this happen with all cells? Not fortunately!
Surprisingly, tumor cells, at least breast cells, are not protected from the effects of radiation by DIM. Possibly, the tumor cells have damaged the DNA repair machinery (that is why they have become tumorous) and the DIM cannot exert its effects. This suggests that this compound could be administered to cancer patients to protect normal cells from the side effects of antitumor radiotherapy, perhaps allowing tumors to be treated by irradiation more aggressively and curing the cancer more likely. So you see, from the garden to the hospital everything can be science, and always hope.
NEW WORK BY JORGE LABORDA.
It can be purchased here:
Chained circumstances. Ed. Lulu
Other works by Jorge Laborda
One Moon, one civilization. Why the Moon tells us that we are alone in the Universe
One Moon one civilization why the Moon tells us we are alone in the universe
The intelligence funnel and other essays
#Cienciaes.com #garden #hospital