Grape seed extract may help prevent skin cancer
seed
ward of skin cancer due to regular exposure to the sun, according to
the results of an animal study reported Sunday in Chicago at the 223rd
annual meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Researchers from the University of Alabama, Birmingham exposed
hairless mice to ultraviolet-light. Some of the mice they fed a
standard diet supplemented with grape seed proanthocyanidins, or GSPs,
while control mice were fed a standard diet without this supplement.
Dietary supplementation with GSPs inhibited light-induced
carcinogenesis, study chief Dr. Santosh K. Katiyar told the
conference.
Mice supplemented with GSPs had up to 65 fewer tumors than control
mice did. Moreover, the tumors seen in GSP-supplemented mice were up
to 78 percent smaller than those seen in the control mice."It suggests
that regular consumptions of GSPs as a dietary supplement may be
beneficial for the prevention of skin cancers," Katiyar said in a
written statement.
GSPs appear to inhibit suppression of the immune system caused by
ultraviolet light. This is "an important characteristic of GSPs. which
has not been reported by several other dietary botanical agents,"
Katiyar noted.
GSPs have antioxidant activity, and UV-induced oxidative stress has
been linked to the induction of skin cancers.
Over exposure to sunlight accounts for more than one million new cases
of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers each year in the United
States. Effective preventive agents and strategies that can reduce or
control the risk of UV-induced skin cancer is required to address this
"pressing public health issue," Katiyar said.
Based on the current findings, studies of GSPs for the prevention of
skin cancers in humans are warranted, the Birmingham team concludes.