Positive Health Online | Research - NAGAO and COLLEAGUES

Research: NAGAO and COLLEAGUES

Abstract

NAGAO and COLLEAGUES, 1. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Stomatology, Okazaki City Hospital, Okazaki, Japan; Department of Oral Medicine, WHO Collaborating Centre for Oral Cancer/Precancer, King's, College London Dental Institute at Guy's, King's & St. Thomas' Hospitals, London, United Kingdom; Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Aichi-Gakuin University School of Dentistry, Nagoya, Japan; Department of Hygiene, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyko, Japan conducted a multi-centre, randomized, double-blind controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the use of low-dose beta-carotene combined with vitamin C supplements for the treatment and prevention of malignant transformation of oral leukoplakia

Background

Management of oral leukoplakia - a potentially malignant disorder - is currently not evidence-based. Of the few randomized trials that have been reported, most have negative data. Therefore, a multi-centre, randomized, double-blind controlled trial (RCT) was undertaken to evaluate the use of low-dose beta-carotene combined with vitamin C supplements for the treatment and to prevent malignant transformation of oral leukoplakia.

Methodology

46 Japanese participants with oral leukoplakia were allocated randomly either to an experimental arm (10 mg day(-1) of beta-carotene and 500 mg day(-1) of vitamin C) or placebo arm (50 mg day(-1) of vitamin C). Current or ex-smokers within 3 months of cessation were excluded. The supplements were continued over a period of 1 year. The primary endpoint was clinical remission at 1-year and the likelihood of malignant transformation during a 5-year follow-up period as a secondary endpoint.

Results

The overall clinical response rate in the experimental arm was 17.4% (4/23) and 4.3% (1/23) in the placebo arm (p = 0.346). During the median 60-month follow-up period, two subjects in the experimental arm and three in the control arm developed oral cancer. Under the intention-to-treat principle, relative risk by supplementing with beta-carotene and vitamin C was 0.77 (95%CI: 0.28-1.89) (p = 0.580) by the Cox proportional hazards model. No unfavourable side-effects were noted. Beta-carotene (10 mg day(-1) ) and vitamin C were neither effective for clinical remission, nor for protection against the development of cancer.

Conclusion

Data from this RCT does not support the hypothesis that chemoprevention with this treatment is effective for oral leukoplakia.

References

Nagao T1, Warnakulasuriya S, Nakamura T, Kato S, Yamamoto K, Fukano H, Suzuki K, Shimozato K, Hashimoto S. Treatment of oral leukoplakia with a low-dose of beta-carotene and vitamin C supplements: a randomized controlled trial. Int J Cancer. 136(7):1708-17. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29156. Epub 2014 Sep 5. 1 Apr 2015.

TANG and COLLEAGUES, 1. Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Ministry of Education of China, Tianjin University of Science and Technology , Tianjin 300457, People's Republic of China; 2. Guelph Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada , 93 Stone Road West, Guelph, Ontario N1G 5C9, Canada; 3. Department of Food Science, University of Guelph , 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada; 4. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University , Nanchang, Jiangxi 330047, People's Republic of China; 5. Katan Kitchens , 62 Grist Mill Drive, Georgetown, Ontario L7G 6C1, Canada assessed the fatty acid, carotenoid, and tocopherol compositions of amaranth and quinoa seeds grown in Ontario and their contribution to nutritional quality

BACKGROUND: Various fatty acids, tocopherols, carotenoids, and their respective antioxidant contributions in 7 amaranth seed and 11 quinoa seed samples along with a new evaluation method are reported.

METHODOLOGY: The lipid yield was 6.98-7.22% in amaranth seeds and 6.03-6.74% in quinoa seeds, with unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) being the predominant fatty acids, 71.58-72.44% in amaranth seeds and 81.44-84.49% in quinoa seeds, respectively.

RESULTS: Carotenoids, mainly lutein and zeaxanthin, are confirmed for the first time in amaranth seeds, while β-carotene is reported first in quinoa seeds. The predominant tocopherols in amaranth seeds are δ- and α-tocopherol, whereas γ- and α-tocopherol are the primary tocopherols in quinoa seeds. UFAs, carotenoids, and tocopherols showed good correlation with antioxidant activity. All of the amaranth seeds demonstrated lower overall lipophilic quality than quinoa seeds, with the AS1 and QS10 cultivars providing the highest scores for amaranth and quinoa seeds, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study will contribute to developing quinoa seeds and related functional foods with increased benefits.

Tang Y1,2, Li X1, Chen PX2,3, Zhang B2,4, Liu R2, Hernandez M2, Draves J5, Marcone MF3, Tsao R2. Assessing the Fatty Acid, Carotenoid, and Tocopherol Compositions of Amaranth and Quinoa Seeds Grown in Ontario and Their Overall Contribution to Nutritional Quality. J Agric Food Chem. 64(5):1103-10. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5b05414. Epub 2016 Jan 27. 10 Feb 2016.

ANDERSEN and COLLEAGUES, 1. Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; 2. International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh; 3. WorldFish, Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Email: s.thilsted@cgiar.org assess the effect of Mola (Amblypharyngodon mola) - a nutrient-rich, small fish - consumption on iron status in children with marginal vitamin A status

BACKGROUND: Mola (Amblypharyngodon mola) is a nutrient-rich, small fish found in ponds and rice fields in Bangladesh. The aim of the present intervention was to assess the effect of mola consumption on iron status in children with marginal vitamin A status.

METHODOLOGY: Bangladeshi children (n=196), aged 3-7 years, with marginal vitamin A status were randomly allocated to one of three intervention groups served different fish curries: mola curry (experimental group); rui (Labeo rohita) curry with added retinyl palmitate (positive control group); or rui curry (negative control group). The intervention meals were served 6 days/week for 9 weeks. The experimental and positive control meals were designed to contain similar amounts of retinol activity equivalents per portion. The mola curry contained four times more iron compared to the rui curries due to different iron content in the two fish species. Haemoglobin, ferritin, serum transferrin receptor and Creactive protein were measured at screening and endpoint.

RESULTS: In the experimental group receiving mola, serum transferrin receptor concentration declined 0.73 mg/L (95% CI 0.17, 1.28, p=0.01) compared to the positive control group, while there were no differences between groups in ferritin or haemoglobin.

CONCLUSIONS: Consumption of mola instead of rui has potentially an effect on iron status in children with marginal vitamin A status, seen as a decrease in serum transferrin receptor concentration.

Andersen AB1, Schmidt LKh1, Faurholt-Jepsen D1, Roos N1, Friis H1, Kongsbak K1, Wahed MA2, Thilsted SH3. The effect of daily consumption of the small fish Amblypharyngodon mola or added vitamin A on iron status: a randomised controlled trial among Bangladeshi children with marginal vitamin A status. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr.25(3):464-71. doi: 10.6133/apjcn.092015.11. 2016.

Nagao T1, Warnakulasuriya S, Nakamura T, Kato S, Yamamoto K, Fukano H, Suzuki K, Shimozato K, Hashimoto S. Treatment of oral leukoplakia with a low-dose of beta-carotene and vitamin C supplements: a randomized controlled trial. Int J Cancer. 136(7):1708-17. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29156. Epub 2014 Sep 5. 1 Apr 2015.

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