Elsevier

Medical Hypotheses

Volume 48, Issue 3, March 1997, Pages 215-220
Medical Hypotheses

Natural antimutagenic agents may prolong efficacy of human immunodeficiency virus drug therapy

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-9877(97)90309-1Get rights and content

Abstract

The long-term efficacy of new combination drug therapies for human immunodeficiency virus infection may be limited by the tendency of transfected human immunodeficiency virus to mutate to drug-resistant forms. This argues for the use of safe antimutagenic measures as adjuvants to such therapies. Certain nutrients and food factors — notably selenium, green-tea polyphenols, and cruciferous phytochemicals — can suppress cancer initiation and mutagenesis in animal and cell culture models; epidemiological studies suggest that ambient variations in consumption of these food factors can have an important impact on human cancer rates. Low-fat diets may reduce deoxyribonucleic acid base damage in human leukocytes, whereas increased body iron stores are likely to increase mutation rates. Thus, ample but safe intakes of selenium, green-tea polyphenols, and cruciferous vegetables, in the context of a diet low in fat and assimilable iron, can be expected to prolong the efficacy of drug therapy in subjects infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. These measures can also be recommended for cancer prevention in the general population.

References (77)

  • Z.Y. Wang et al.

    Antimutagenic activity of green tea polyphenols

    Mutation Res

    (1989)
  • J. Chen

    The effects of Chinese tea on the occurrence of esophageal tumors induced by N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine in rats

    Prev Med

    (1992)
  • P. Talalay

    Mechanisms of induction of enzymes that protect against chemical carcinogenesis.

    Adv Enzyme Regulation

    (1989)
  • G.S. Stoewsand et al.

    Protective effect of dietary brussels sprouts against mammary carcinogenesis in Sprague-Dawley rats

    Cancer Lett

    (1988)
  • E. Razzini et al.

    Omega-3 fatty acids as coadjuvant treatment in AIDS

    Med Hypotheses

    (1993)
  • S. Preston-Martin et al.

    Increased cell division as a cause of human cancer

    Cancer Res

    (1990)
  • G.N. Schrauzer et al.

    Effects of temporary selenium supplementation on the genesis of spontaneous mammary tumors in inbred female C3H/St mice

    Carcinogenesis

    (1980)
  • G.F. Combs et al.

    Can dietary selenium modify cancer risk?

    Nutr Rev

    (1985)
  • C. Ip

    The chemopreventive role of selenium in carcinogenesis

    J Am Coll Toxicol

    (1986)
  • G.F. Combs

    Selenium

  • K.E. Burke et al.

    The effects of topical and oral L-selenomethionine on pigmentation and skin cancer induced by ultraviolet irradiation

    Nutr Cancer

    (1992)
  • C. Ip

    Prophylaxis of mammary neoplasia by selenium supplementation in the initiation and promotion phases of chemical carcinogenesis

    Cancer Res

    (1981)
  • C. Ip et al.

    Chemical form of selenium, critical metabolites, and cancer prevention

    Cancer Res

    (1991)
  • J. Liu et al.

    Inhibition of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)-anthracene-induced mammary tumors and DNA adducts by dietary selenite

    Cancer Res

    (1991)
  • M.S. Wortzman et al.

    Effect of dietary selenium on the interaction between 2-acetylaminoflourene and rat liver DNA in vivo

    Cancer Res

    (1980)
  • J. Lanfear et al.

    The selenium metabolite selenodiglutathione induces p53 and apoptosis: relevance to the chemopreventive effects of selenium?

    Carcinogenesis

    (1994)
  • R.G. Stevens et al.

    Body iron stores and the risk of cancer

    N Engl J Med

    (1988)
  • R.G. Stevens

    Iron and the risk of cancer

    Med Oncol Tumor Pharmacother

    (1990)
  • R.G. Stevens et al.

    Moderate elevation of body iron level and increased risk of cancer occurrence and death

    Int J Cancer

    (1994)
  • R.J. Shamberger et al.

    Selenium distribution and human cancer mortality

    CRC Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci

    (1971)
  • J.T. Salonen et al.

    Association between serum selenium and the risk of cancer

    Am J Epidemiol

    (1984)
  • L.C. Clark

    The epidemiology of selenium and cancer

  • S.-Y. Yu et al.

    Regional variation of cancer mortality incidence and its relation to selenium levels in China

    Biol Trace Elem Res

    (1985)
  • S.-Y. Yu et al.

    A preliminary report on the intervention trials of primary liver cancer in high-risk populations with nutritional supplementation of selenium in China

    Biol Trace Elem Res

    (1991)
  • W.J. Blot et al.

    Nutrition intervention trials in Linxian, China: supplementation with specific vitamin/mineral combinations, cancer incidence, and disease-specific mortality in the general population

    J Natl Cancer Inst

    (1993)
  • S.K. Katiyar et al.

    Green tea in chemoprevention of cancer

    Comprehen Ther

    (1992)
  • Z.Y. Wang et al.

    Protection against polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-induced skin tumor initiation in mice by green tea polyphenols

    Carcinogenesis

    (1989)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text