Come già scritto da illustri predecessori (funes), frutta e verdura non hanno mai dimostrato alcun beneficio degno di nota, salvo quello di aggiungere un po' di varietà alla nostra dieta.
DNA damage and repair: fruit and vegetable effects in a feeding trial.
Chang JL, Chen G, Ulrich CM, Bigler J, King IB, Schwarz Y, Li S, Li L,
Potter JD, Lampe JW.
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Epidemiologic studies have examined the association between fruit and
vegetable (F&V) consumption and the risk of cancer. Several cancer-
preventive mechanisms have been proposed, such as antioxidant
properties and modulation of biotransformation enzyme activities; both
may be associated with reducing DNA damage and hence the mutation
rate. We investigated, in a randomized, controlled, crossover feeding
trial, the effect of 10 servings/day of botanically defined F&V for 2
wk on endogenous DNA damage; resistance to gamma -irradiation damage;
and DNA repair capacity in lymphocytes, measured by the Comet assay.
We also explored the association between the UGT1A1*28 polymorphism
and serum bilirubin concentrations and DNA damage and repair measures.
Healthy men (n = 11) and women (n = 17), age 20 to 40 yr, provided
blood samples at the end of each feeding period. Overall, F&V did not
affect DNA damage and repair measures in lymphocytes. The number of
UGT1A1*28 alleles was inversely associated with sensitivity to gamma -
irradiation exposure and DNA repair capacity, but a biological
mechanism to explain this association is unclear. A larger sample size
is needed to investigate the association between bilirubin
concentrations and endogenous DNA damage. With inconsistent findings
in the literature, additional dietary intervention studies on the
effect of F&V on DNA damage and repair are needed.
PMID: 20358470 [PubMed - in process]
Articoli più datati:
No effect of 600 grams fruit and vegetables per day on oxidative DNA damage and repair in healthy nonsmokers.
Møller P, Vogel U, Pedersen A, Dragsted LO, Sandström B, Loft S.
Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark. fipm@farmakol.ku.dk
In several epidemiological studies, high intakes of fruits and vegetables have been associated with a lower incidence of cancer. Theoretically, intake of antioxidants by consumption of fruits and vegetables should protect against reactive oxygen species and decrease the formation of oxidative DNA damage. We set up a parallel 24-day dietary placebo-controlled intervention study in which 43 subjects were randomized into three groups receiving an antioxidant-free basal diet and 600 g of fruits and vegetables, or a supplement containing the corresponding amounts of vitamins and minerals, or placebo. Blood and urine samples were collected before, once a week, and 4 weeks after the intervention period. The level of strand breaks, endonuclease III sites, formamidopyrimidine sites, and sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide was assessed in mononuclear blood cells by the comet assay. Excretion of 7-hydro-8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanine was measured in urine. The expressions of oxoguanine glycosylase 1 and excision repair cross complementing 1 DNA repair genes, determined by real-time reverse transcription-PCR of mRNAs, were investigated in leukocytes. Consumption of fruits and vegetables or vitamins and minerals had no effect on oxidative DNA damage measured in mononuclear cell DNA or urine. Hydrogen peroxide sensitivity, detected by the comet assay, did not differ between the groups. Expression of excision repair cross complementing 1 and oxoguanine glycosylase 1 in leukocytes was not related to the diet consumed. Our results show that after 24 days of complete depletion of fruits and vegetables, or daily ingestion of 600 g of fruit and vegetables, or the corresponding amount of vitamins and minerals, the level of oxidative DNA damage was unchanged. This suggests that the inherent antioxidant defense mechanisms are sufficient to protect circulating mononuclear blood cells from reactive oxygen species.
Nutr Cancer. 2008;60(2):164-70.
No differences in DNA damage and antioxidant capacity between intervention groups of healthy, nonsmoking men receiving 2, 5, or 8 servings/day of vegetables and fruit.
Briviba K, Bub A, Möseneder J, Schwerdtle T, Hartwig A, Kulling S, Watzl B.
Institute of Nutritional Physiology, Federal Research Centre for Nutrition and Food, Karlsruhe, Germany. karlis.briviba@bfel.de
The effects of different intake levels of vegetables and fruit (VF) on some cancer-relevant biomarkers such as DNA damage and oxidative stress were investigated. In a randomized controlled trial, 64 nonsmoking male subjects were asked to consume a diet with 2 servings of VF/day for 4 wk. Then subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups with either a low (2 servings/day), medium (5 servings/day), or high (8 servings/day) intake level of VF for another 4 wk. At the end of study, the plasma lutein, zeaxanthin, alpha-carotene, and beta-carotene but not cryptoxanthin and lycopene concentrations were significantly higher in subjects consuming 8 servings/day than in those receiving 2 servings/day. Different levels of VF consumption and plasma carotenoid concentrations did not result in differences in the levels of endogenous DNA strand breaks, oxidative DNA damage, antigenotoxic capacity of lymphocytes, plasma markers for lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde, 8-iso-prostaglandin-F2alpha) and antioxidant capacity [trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity assay]. Thus, although consumption of 8 servings vs 2 servings/day of VF for 4 wk significantly increased the carotenoid level in plasma, there were no differences in DNA damage, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant capacity markers among healthy, well-nourished, nonsmoking men.
PMID: 18444147 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]