| Disease | A RANDOMIZED, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED CHEMOPREVENTION TRIAL WAS CONDUCTED AMONG RESIDENTS OF QIDONG, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, WHO ARE AT HIGH RISK FOR DEVELOPMENT OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA, IN PART DUE TO CONSUMPTION OF AFLATOXIN-CONTAMINATED FOODS, AS WELL AS BY EXPOSURE TO HIGH LEVELS OF PHENANTHRENE, A SENTINEL OF HYDROCARBON AIR TOXICS.
THE STUDY TESTED WHETHER DRINKING HOT WATER INFUSIONS OF 3-DAY-OLD BROCCOLI SPROUTS, CONTAINING DEFINED CONCENTRATIONS OF GLUCOSINOLATES, COULD ALTER THE DISPOSITION OF AFLATOXIN AND PHENANTHRENE
TWO HUNDRED HEALTHY ADULTS DRANK INFUSIONS CONTAINING EITHER 400 OR <3 MMOL GLUCORAPHANIN NIGHTLY FOR 2 WEEKS. ADHERENCE TO THE STUDY PROTOCOL WAS OUTSTANDING; NO PROBLEMS WITH SAFETY OR TOLERANCE WERE NOTED.
URINARY LEVELS OF AFLATOXIN-N7-GUANINE WERE NOT DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE TWO INTERVENTION ARMS (P = 0.68). HOWEVER, MEASUREMENT OF URINARY LEVELS OF DITHIOCARBAMATES (SULFORAPHANE
METABOLITES) INDICATED STRIKING INTERINDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN BIOAVAILABILITY. AN INVERSE ASSOCIATION WAS OBSERVED FOR EXCRETION OF DITHIOCARBAMATES AND AFLATOXIN-DNA ADDUCTS
(P = 0.002; R = 0.31) IN INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING BROCCOLI SPROUT GLUCOSINOLATES. MOREOVER, TRANS, ANTI-PHENANTHRENE TETRAOL, A METABOLITE OF THE COMBUSTION PRODUCT PHENANTHRENE, WAS
DETECTED IN URINE OF ALL PARTICIPANTS AND SHOWED A ROBUST INVERSE ASSOCIATION WITH DITHIOCARBAMATE LEVELS (P = 0.0001; R = 0.39), ALTHOUGH AGAIN NO OVERALL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
INTERVENTION ARMS WAS OBSERVED (P = 0.29). UNDERSTANDING FACTORS INFLUENCING GLUCOSINOLATE HYDROLYSIS AND BIOAVAILABILITY WILL BE REQUIRED FOR OPTIMAL USE OF BROCCOLI SPROUTS IN HUMAN INTERVENTIONS. |