Primary component in turmeric kicks off cancer-killing mechanisms in human saliva

“Study could have an impact in fighting head and neck cancers.”

Posted by Biomechanism 

Curcumin, the main component in the spice turmeric, suppresses a cell signaling pathway that drives the growth of head and neck cancer, according to a pilot study using human saliva by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The inhibition of the cell signaling pathway also correlated with reduced expression of a number of pro-inflammatory cytokines, or signaling molecules, in the saliva that promote cancer growth, said Dr. Marilene Wang, a professor of head and neck surgery, senior author of the study and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher.

“This study shows that curcumin can work in the mouths of patients with head and neck malignancies and reduce activities that promote cancer growth,” Wang said. “And it not only affected the cancer by inhibiting a critical cell signaling pathway, it also affected the saliva itself by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines within the saliva.”

The study appears Sept. 15 in Clinical Cancer Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association of Cancer Research.

Turmeric is a naturally occurring spice widely used in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking and has long been known to have medicinal properties, attributed to its anti-inflammatory effects. Previous studies have shown it can suppress the growth of certain cancers. In India, women for years have been using turmeric as an anti-aging agent rubbed into their skin, to treat cramps during menstruation and as a poultice on the skin to promote wound healing.

A 2005 study by Wang and her team first showed that curcumin suppressed the growth of head and neck cancer, first in cells and then in mouse models. In the animal studies, the curcumin was applied directly onto the tumors in paste form. In a 2010 study, also done in cells and in mouse models, the research team found that the curcumin suppressed head and neck cancer growth by regulating cell cycling, said scientist Eri Srivatsan, an adjunct professor of surgery, article author and a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher who, along with Wang, has been studying curcumin and its anti-cancer properties for seven years.

The curcumin binds to and prevents an enzyme known as IKK, an inhibitor of kappa β kinase, from activating a transcription factor called nuclear factor kappa β (NFκβ), which promotes cancer growth.

In this study, 21 patients with head and neck cancers gave samples of their saliva before and after chewing two curcumin tablets totaling 1,000 milligrams. One hour later, another sample of saliva was taken and proteins were extracted and IKKβ kinase activity measured. Thirteen subjects with tooth decay and five healthy subjects were used as controls, Wang said.

Eating the curcumin, Wang said, put it in contact not just with the cancer but also with the saliva, and the study found it reduced the level of cancer enhancing cytokines.

An independent lab in Maryland was sent blind samples and confirmed the results – the pro-inflammatory cytokines in the saliva that help feed the cancer were reduced in the patients that had chewed the curcumin and the cell signaling pathway driving cancer growth was inhibited, Wang said.

“The curcumin had a significant inhibitory effect, blocking two different drivers of head and neck cancer growth,” Wang said. “We believe curcumin could be combined with other treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation to treat head and neck cancer. It also could perhaps be given to patients at high risk for developing head and neck cancers – smokers, those who chew tobacco and people with the HPV virus – as well as to patients with previous oral cancers to fight recurrence.”

The curcumin was well tolerated by the patients and resulted in no toxic effects. The biggest problem was their mouths and teeth turned bright yellow.

“Curcumin inhibited IKKβ kinase activity in the saliva of head and neck cancer patients and this inhibition correlated with reduced expression of a number of cytokines,” the study states. “IKKβ kinase could be a useful biomarker for detecting the effects of curcumin in head and neck cancer.”

To be effective in fighting cancer, the curcumin must be used in supplement form. Although turmeric is used in cooking, the amount of curcumin needed to produce a clinical response is much larger. Expecting a positive effect through eating foods spiced with turmeric is not realistic, Wang said.

The next step for Wang and her team is to treat patients with curcumin for longer periods of time to see if the inhibitory effects can be increased. They plan to treat cancer patients scheduled for surgery for a few weeks prior to their procedure. They’ll take a biopsy before the curcumin is started and then at the time of surgery and analyze the tissue to look for differences.

“There’s potential here for the development of curcumin as an adjuvant treatment for cancer,” Wang said. “It’s not toxic, well tolerated, cheap and easily obtained in any health food store. While this is a promising pilot study, it’s important to expand our work to more patients to confirm our findings.”

Finding ways to better treat head and neck cancers is vital as patients often require disfiguring surgery, often losing parts of their tongue or mouth. They also experience many side effects, including difficulty swallowing, dry mouth and have the potential for developing another oral cancer later.

More evidence that spicing up broccoli boosts its cancer-fighting power

Posted by Biomechanism 
Teaming fresh broccoli with a spicy food that contains the enzyme myrosinase significantly enhances each food’s individual cancer-fighting power and ensures that absorption takes place in the upper part of the digestive system where you’ll get the maximum health benefit, suggests a new University of Illinois study. 

“To get this effect, spice up your broccoli with broccoli sprouts, mustard, horseradish, or wasabi. The spicier, the better; that means it’s being effective,” said Elizabeth Jeffery, a U of I professor of nutrition.

In the study, when fresh broccoli sprouts were eaten with broccoli powder, the scientists were able to measure bioactive compounds in the blood 30 minutes later. When these peaked at three hours, they were much higher when the foods were eaten together than when either was eaten alone. Urine samples corroborated the blood results, said Jenna Cramer, lead author of the study.

It’s no secret that many people cook the benefits right out of broccoli instead of steaming it lightly for two to four minutes to protect its healthful properties, she said.

“However, this study shows that even if broccoli is overcooked, you can still boost its benefits by pairing it with another food that contains myrosinase,” she said.

Myrosinase is the enzyme necessary to form sulforaphane, the vegetable’s cancer-preventive component, co-author Margarita Teran-Garcia explained.

Note what happened with the fresh broccoli sprouts and broccoli powder eaten in this experiment. The powder doesn’t contain myrosinase, but it does contain the precursor to the anti-cancer agent sulforaphane. Eaten together, the sprouts were able to lend their myrosinase to the powder. As predicted, both foods produced sulforaphane and provided greater anti-cancer benefit, Jeffery said.

Other foods that will boost broccoli’s benefits if they are paired together include radishes, cabbage, arugula, watercress, and Brussels sprouts.

“Here’s another benefit of protecting and enhancing the myrosinase in your foods,” Jeffery said. “If myrosinase is present, sulforaphane is released in the ilium, the first part of your digestive system. Absorption happens well and quickly there, which is why we saw bioactivity in 30 minutes.”

An earlier Jeffery study showed that microbiota are capable of releasing sulforaphane in the lower gut, but absorption happens more slowly in the colon than in the upper intestine, she said.

Scientists say that as little as three to five servings of broccoli a week provide a cancer-protective benefit.

“But it pays to spice it up for added benefits and find ways to make it appealing so you don’t mind eating it if you’re not a broccoli fan. I add fresh broccoli sprouts to sandwiches and add them as one of my pizza toppings after the pie is out of the oven,” Cramer said.

Researchers uncover a potential new benefit of pure maple syrup on liver health

Posted by Biomechanism 

New research conducted at the University of Tokyo suggests that pure maple syrup may promote a healthy liver. The pilot study, conducted by Dr. Keiko Abe of the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, showed that healthy laboratory rats fed a diet in which some of the carbohydrate was replaced with pure maple syrup from Canada yielded significantly better results in liver function tests than the control groups fed a diet with a syrup mix containing a similar sugar content as maple syrup. The results will be published in the November, 2011 issue of Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry.

Although most healthy individuals take liver function for granted, liver health is of great importance because of the hundreds of vital functions it performs that are essential to human life, which include storing energy (glycogen) and regulating blood glucose, the production of certain amino acids (building blocks of protein), filtering harmful substances from the blood. Liver disease not related to alcohol consumption is estimated to affect 25% of people in the United States, according to the American Liver Foundation. It shows up most often in middle aged people who are overweight, have abnormal blood lipids and diabetes or insulin resistance conditions when grouped together, are known as metabolic syndrome.

“It is important to understand the factors leading to impaired liver function – our lifestyle choices including poor diet, stress and lack of exercise, as well as exposure to environmental pollutants that produce tissue-damaging free radicals,” says Dr. Melissa Palmer, clinical professor and medical director of hepatology at New York University Plainview. “The preliminary results of this research are encouraging and emphasize the importance of choosing a healthy diet to help counteract the lifestyle and environmental factors that may impact liver function, even our choice of a sweetener. In addition to Dr. Abe’s recent findings, published research suggests that pure maple syrup may prove to be a better choice of sweetener because it was found to be rich in polyphenolic antioxidants and contains vitamins and minerals,” notes Palmer.

The animals were evaluated using the latest analytical methods including gene expression profiling called nutrigenomics. In the study, rats were fed diets consisting of 20% pure maple syrup, or 20% syrup mixture with similar sugar content as maple syrup. After 11 days, the rats on the maple syrup diet showed significantly decreased levels of liver enzymes AST, ALT and LDH in the blood, standard biomarkers for evaluating liver function. The gene expression profiling observations also suggest a mechanism whereby the maple syrup diet caused genes involved in the production of harmful ammonia in the liver to down-regulate, that is, to be less active.

“This research contributes to our growing understanding of the incredible health potential of maple syrup,” remarked Serge Beaulieu, President of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. “We learned previously that maple syrup contains antioxidant compounds that may actually help regulate glucose metabolism and increase insulin release, possibly aiding in the management of type 2 diabetes. And now Dr. Abe is exploring the relationship between maple syrup consumption and liver health. Her current findings give us even more reason to enjoy our maple syrup.”

New UNH data tests the exercise ‘talk test’

Posted by Biomechanism 

New research by University of New Hampshire exercise scientists confirms that a low-tech, easy-to-administer test is an effective tool for gauging exercise intensity, but that it does not correspond as neatly as previously assumed to other more objective tests. In a study published recently in the Journal of Sports Sciences, UNH associate professor of kinesiology Timothy Quinn and his former graduate student Benjamin Coons put the so-called “Talk Test” to the test.

Quinn and Coons set out to learn just how good this test, gaining in popularity over the past decade, is, and how it compared to two other laboratory-tested measures of intensity, the lactate threshold and the ventilatory threshold.

The researchers administered the Talk Test to healthy adults, having them read the Pledge of Allegiance while exercising at different intensities and rating how comfortable they were speaking. They found that when participants reported a positive Talk Test – that they could still speak comfortably – they were exercising at the lower end of established exercise intensity guidelines as measured by both heart rate and maximal oxygen consumption, or VO2 max. When participants became uncertain that they could still speak comfortably, they were exercising at the upper end of intensity guidelines.

This finding confirmed the effectiveness of the Talk Test. “If you can still talk comfortably, you’re exercising in a zone that’s appropriate for improving fitness in individuals beginning an exercise program,” Quinn says. “The Talk Test is a good tool, and it’s easy to use.”

More surprising, however, was how the Talk Test compared to the lactate threshold, the point at which muscles can no longer metabolize and remove lactic acid as it builds during exercise, and the ventilatory threshold, which is characterized by sudden heavy breathing. While previous research involving the Talk Test has used the ventilatory threshold as the comparator, this study was the first to compare both the lactate and ventilatory thresholds with the Talk Test. Data showed that the Talk Test related best to the lactate threshold as compared to the ventilatory threshold

“Everybody’s thought that the Talk Test related well to the ventilatory threshold,” Quinn says. “And it does, to a certain degree. But different physiological phenomena occur at each threshold, and it is the phenomena associated with the lactate threshold that relate better to the different levels of the Talk Test.”

Quinn says these findings on the relationship of the Talk Test to the lactate threshold make the Talk Test relevant to endurance athletes as well as beginning exercisers. “In order to enhance endurance performance, some training has to occur around the lactate threshold intensity level. When subjects in the study had difficulty talking, they were very close to that lactate threshold intensity. Because of this, athletes could gauge their intensity based on ability to talk comfortably.”

“If you are beginning an exercise program and can still talk while you’re exercising, you’re doing OK,” Quinn says. “But if you really want to improve, you’ve got to push a little bit harder.”

Study finds statistical error in large numbers of neuroscience papers

 Other Sciences / Mathematics 

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sander Nieuwenhuis and his associates from the Netherlands have done a study on one particular type of statistical error that apparently crops up in an inordinately large number of papers published in neuroscience journals. In their paper, published in Nature Neuroscience, they claim that up to half of all papers published in such journals contain the error.

The problem lies in the way findings are presented. If a group of researchers, for example, applies something (chemical, food, energy, etc.) that is to cause an effect on something else (nerve cells, populations, inanimate objects, etc.) and finds the amount of change caused by the main thing that is being studied is “significant” but the change in the control group is not, they cannot then, reasonably compare the two results and come up with something that they consider significant unless the differences between the two are actually statistically significant (based on additional research).

Why such errors appear in so many research papers is open to debate. Whether it’s due to researchers wishing to overstate their findings, ignorance, or simple sloppiness, it’s clear that more scrutiny and peer review must be done by researchers before submitting their work. Of course, that’s only half the equation, why are journals who obviously take their reputations very seriously not properly vetting such papers before publishing them?

In their study, the group reviewed 513 papers published in five different highly regarded journals over a two year period. They found half of the papers (where such an error was possible) had the error in them. In addition they also found that when looking at 120 articles published on Nature Neuroscience (with cell and molecular themes) that 25 had the error in them.

Clearly there is a serious problem here; this research project highlights a problem that is likely present in other areas of science as well; namely the inaccuracies present in science journals, mainstream science magazines, the media and perhaps even in classroom lectures. Failing to check for and fix simple statistical inaccuracies in papers presenting results obtained in research, calls into question their very integrity.

Hopefully research studies such as this one will cause alarm both in the research and publishing communities and bring about better controls on both.

More information: Erroneous analyses of interactions in neuroscience: a problem of significance, Nature Neuroscience 14, 1105–1107 (2011)doi:10.1038/nn.2886

Abstract 
In theory, a comparison of two experimental effects requires a statistical test on their difference. In practice, this comparison is often based on an incorrect procedure involving two separate tests in which researchers conclude that effects differ when one effect is significant (P < 0.05) but the other is not (P > 0.05). We reviewed 513 behavioral, systems and cognitive neuroscience articles in five top-ranking journals (Science, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron and The Journal of Neuroscience) and found that 78 used the correct procedure and 79 used the incorrect procedure. An additional analysis suggests that incorrect analyses of interactions are even more common in cellular and molecular neuroscience. We discuss scenarios in which the erroneous procedure is particularly beguiling.

via Guardian

© 2011 PhysOrg.com

"Study finds statistical error in large numbers of neuroscience papers." September 13th, 2011. http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-statistical-error-large-neuroscience-papers.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Word sounds contain clues for language learners

Study: Word sounds contain clues for language learners

 Other Sciences / Other 

(PhysOrg.com) -- Why do words sound the way they do? For over a century, it has been a central tenet of linguistic theory that there is a completely arbitrary relationship between how a word sounds and what it means.

"Arbitrariness is in part what makes it hard to learn words in a new language," says Morten Christiansen, professor of psychology and co-director of the Cornell Cognitive Science Program. "Even though the meaning of our concepts stays roughly the same across languages, the words for them can vary quite dramatically. For example, we refer to canine pets in English with the sound 'dog.' Whereas Danish speakers say hund and the French chien."

This summer, Christiansen organized a symposium at a language acquisition conference in Montreal where evidence showed that some systematic sound-to-meaning correspondences do exist. For instance, toddlers consistently matched rounded vowels, such as "koko," to rounded shapes and non-rounded vowels, such as "kiki," to jagged shapes.

"Such systematic relationships between sound and meaning make it easier to figure out what the rough meaning of a word is," said Christiansen. "So, from a learning perspective, it's paradoxical that most words have an arbitrary sound-to-meaning relationship."

A study published by Christiansen and two colleagues in the August Journal of Experimental Psychology: General provides new insight into this paradox. They uncovered a trade-off between arbitrariness and "systematicity" within the sound of words.

"One group of subjects were asked to learn novel words for objects and actions with a completely arbitrary sound-meaning relationship; another group learned words with systematic relationships; a third group had to learn words whose beginnings were arbitrary but their endings were systematic," Christiansen said. "We found that learners who were exposed to words incorporating a trade-off between arbitrariness and systematicity were not only better at remembering the correct meaning of a word but also better at determining which category it belonged to: object or action."

The researchers further confirmed that words in French and English have the same mix of arbitrariness and systematicity in their sound patterns.

"We've shown that the sound of a word reflects the best of both worlds," said Christiansen. "By having arbitrariness at the beginning of a word, the sound becomes unique more quickly. This makes it easier and faster for people to determine its exact meaning, whereas the ends of a word are then free to incorporate systematic information about the role that word plays in a sentence."

If a word's sound indicates how it might be used -- for example, as a noun or a verb -- it makes it easier for children learning language to use that word.

"Our prior research showed that there are, in fact, differences in the sounds of nouns and verbs and that people are sensitive to this when learning and using a language," said Christiansen, who demonstrated that nouns and verbs sound differently, and that this is true across English, Japanese and French. "These sound differences are quite subtle; you won't consciously be aware of such differences even though your behavior shows that you're actually sensitive to them.

"Each language has a constellation of sound cues that allow a child to make some initial guesses about whether a new word was a noun or a verb. We were able to show that, indeed, children could use the sound properties of the words when they were making these initial guesses," he added.

"Children acquiring their first language already use this information as an important information source. Thus, teachers don't have to stress this. However, it might be useful for second-language learners to have such information highlighted," said Christiansen.

Provided by Cornell University

"Study: Word sounds contain clues for language learners." September 13th, 2011. http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-word-clues-language-learners.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Scottish Scientists Are Trying to Create Inorganic Life

By Julie Beck

Slide From Professor Cronin's TED Talk On Inorganic Life TED

Scientists at Glasgow University are on a mission to create a form of life from inorganic molecules. The team, led by Professor Lee Cronin, has demonstrated a way of creating an inorganic cell, in which internal membranes control the movement of energy and materials, just as in a living cell. These cells can also store electricity and could be used in medicine and chemistry as sensors or to contain chemical reactions.

This research is part of Cronin's larger project to show that inorganic compounds are able to self-replicate and evolve like biological cells do. The ultimate goal is to give these inorganic cells life-like properties so they can evolve and eventually be used in materials science.

Cronin said he believes creating inorganic life is entirely possible, that if biological organisms evolved from single-cell bacteria, so should life be able to evolve from inorganic microorganisms. This “inorganic living technology,” if it works, could change the way we think about evolution, showing that it's not a process exclusive to biology, and that non-carbon-based life could exist.

[BBC]

Japan's Richest Man Unveils Scheme for $26 Billion Renewable Energy Supergrid

By Dan Nosowitz

Thanet Wind Farm courtesy Vattenfall

Masayoshi Son, entrepreneurial founder of Softbank, Japan's third-largest mobile network, and according to Forbes, the nation's richest man, unveiled a vague but undeniably ambitious plan to completely change Japan's energy infrastructure. His plan, which relies heavily on wind and geothermal power and abandons nuclear, would, he says, shift the majority of Japan's energy sources to renewable energy by 2030.

Son, who's known in Japan for his ballsy, high-risk ventures--he acquired a floundering mobile network and became the exclusive Japanese carrier for the iPhone and iPad--has already created a foundation for the "supergrid," which he says will eventually cost about $26 billion to create. He's already put about $13 million of his own money into the pot, and is pushing for partners to help create a whopping 1,200-mile-long grid that, he hopes, will deliver 60% of the country's energy needs from renewable sources.

The plan, unveiled Monday, was short on specifics, but would rely on both on- and offshore plants, mostly wind and geothermal energy. "Globally, wind power in particular has very good cost performance," he said at the announcement. The plan would also involve shutting down many of Japan's nuclear power plants, which he says are a risk due to the country's high likelihood of earthquakes and tsunamis like the one that caused so much havoc in Fukushima earlier this year.

Son promised that Softbank would chip in as much as $260 million, and is even looking beyond just Japan for this sort of grid--he says it could eventually be expanded to connect to mainland Asia, incorporating grids that cover China, Russia, and even India. According to a Greenpeace study, with frankly outrageous construction, Japan could achieve something like this, but it would mean constructing thousands of wind turbines and installing solar panels on basically every available surface. Still, there's no better time than now to embark on a massive infrastructure rebuild.

[IDG News Service]