Olive and fish oils may be the much sought after panacea to cell damage caused by leukaemia, pancreatitis and other forms of cancer. CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes.RECENT studies by United States and Spanish researchers have identified compounds in olive oil and fish oil that can stop cell damage thereby providing cures for leukaemia and pancreatitis. Previous studies have shown that the oils are beneficial in preventing and treating breast and prostate cancers.Chronic pancreatitis is a condition afflicting nearly 0.04 per cent to five per cent of the population worldwide. The disease presents as recurrent episodes of abdominal pain, fatty stools and weight loss, or may be asymptomatic. Patients may develop complications over a variable period of time.Leukaemia is the cancer of the white blood cells.Scientists at the University of Granada, Spain have shown that oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol ' present in a particularly high concentration in virgin olive oil ' and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ' found in fish ' relieve the symptoms of pancreatitis.The researchers in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the Nutrition Society evaluated the role of Mediterranean diet ingredients in the prevention and mitigation of cell damage.Oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol 'present in a particularly high concentration in virgin olive oil' and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids 'found in fish' affect the cellular mechanisms involved in the development of acute pancreatitis, a disease of oxidative-inflammatory etiology. Therefore, oleic acid and hydroxytyrosol can be considered potential functional ingredients, as they may prevent or mitigate this disease.The study conducted by a research group at the University of Granada Physiology Department, examined the role of the Mediterranean diet ingredients in the prevention and mitigation of cell damage.These scientists developed an in vitro experimental model that allows scientist to evaluate how changes in the membrane fatty acid composition in vivo 'caused by a change in the type of fat ingested' affect the ability of cells to respond to induced oxidative-inflammatory damage with cerulein (acute pancreatitis).This is the first study to examine how fatty acids and antioxidants affect the cellular mechanisms that respond to local inflammation in the pancreas. The University of Granada scientists have evaluated the role of antioxidants from a preventive approach, that is, by using an experimental model in mice in which cell damage is induced after pretreatment with these nutritional components.Also, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, United States of America, in a study published in the current issue of Blood found that a compound produced from fish oil that appears to target leukemia stem cells could lead to a cure for the disease.Associate professor of immunology and molecular toxicology in the Department of Veterinary and Medical Sciences, Sandeep Prabhu, said the compound ' delta-12-protaglandin J3, or D12-PGJ3 ' targeted and killed the stem cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, in mice. The compound is produced from EPA ' Eicosapentaenoic Acid ' an Omega-3 fatty acid found in fish and in fish oil, he said.Prabhu said: 'Research in the past on fatty acids has shown the health benefits of fatty acids on cardiovascular system and brain development, particularly in infants, but we have shown that some metabolites of Omega-3 have the ability to selectively kill the leukemia-causing stem cells in mice. The important thing is that the mice were completely cured of leukemia with no relapse.'The researchers said the compound kills cancer-causing stem cells in the mice's spleen and bone marrow. Specifically, it activates a gene ' p53 ' in the leukemia stem cell that programs the cell's own death.Prabhu added: 'p53 is a tumor suppressor gene that regulates the response to DNA damage and maintains genomic stability. Killing the stem cells in leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, is important because stem cells can divide and produce more cancer cells, as well as create more stem cells.'The current therapy for CML extends the patient's life by keeping the number of leukemia cells low, but the drugs fail to completely cure the disease because they do not target leukemia stem cells, said Robert Paulson, associate professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences, who co-directed this research with Prabhu.'The patients must take the drugs continuously,' said Paulson. 'If they stop, the disease relapses because the leukemia stem cells are resistant to the drugs.'Current treatments are unable to kill the leukemia stem cells, Paulson said.'These stem cells can hide from the treatment, and a small population of stem cells give rise to more leukemia cells,' said Paulson. 'So, targeting the stem cells is essential if you want to cure leukemia.'During the experiments, the researchers injected each mouse with about 600 nanograms of D12-PGJ3 each day for a week. Tests showed that the mice were completely cured of the disease. The blood count was normal, and the spleen returned to normal size. The disease did not relapse.In previous experiments, the compound also killed the stem cells of Friend Virus-induced leukemia, an experimental model for human leukemia.The researchers focused on D12-PGJ3 because it killed the leukemia stem cells, but had the least number of side effects. The researchers currently are working to determine whether the compound can be used to treat the terminal stage of CML, referred to as Blast Crisis. There are currently no drugs available that can treat the disease when it progresses to this stage.
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