Modified Citrus Pectin Inhibits Growth of Prostate Cancer Cells

A recent study has confirmed the anticancer properties of two different types of modified citrus pectin (MCP) on prostate cancer cells growing in tissue culture.

Investigators at Columbia University (New York, NY, USA) tested two versions of MCP, PectaSol and PectaSol-C. Pectin is commonly used as a jelling agent in foods, such as jams and jellies. Chemically, it is a complex carbohydrate and a soluble form of fiber. Food-grade pectin is not digested by humans. However, in PectaSol and PectaSol-C, citrus pectin is made absorbable by decreasing its molecular weight through acidity, temperature, and enzymatic degradation. As a result, MCP dissolves in water and is far better utilized by the human body than is ordinary pectin.

MCP contains galactose, which has been shown to suppress cancer metastases. In patients, MCP increases the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) doubling time. Oral intake of MCP also reduces lung metastases in rats with prostate cancer.

In the current study, the investigators used the MTT test to study the inhibitory effects of MCP on prostate cancer cell cultures. In the test MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, a yellow tetrazole), is reduced to purple formazan by living cells. A solubilization solution dissolves the insoluble purple formazan product into a colored solution that can be quantified by measuring at between 500 nm and 600 nm with a spectrophotometer.

Androgen-dependent and -independent human prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP and PC3, respectively), androgen-dependent and -independent murine prostate cancer cell lines (CASP2.1 and CASP1.1, respectively), as well as noncancerous human benign prostate hyperplasia BPH-1 cell line, were used in the study. Results published in the May 11, 2010, online edition of the journal Integrative Cancer Therapies revealed that a 1% solution of PectaSol-C was toxic to the five cell lines. After four days of treatment, the total destruction of cancer cells ranged from 23.0% to 52.2%. Both PectaSol and PectaSol-C inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cell lines.

"Our findings clearly demonstrate that MCP possesses antiprostate cancer properties in both androgen-dependent (hormonal sensitive) and androgen-independent (hormonal resistant) prostate cancer cells,” said first author Dr. Jun Yan, a urology researcher at Columbia University. "These results strongly suggest that MCP can be a promising chemopreventive and therapeutic agent against this malignancy."

"Considering the low molecular weight of the MCP used in the study,” said Dr. Yan, "we speculate that this new MCP will be more readily absorbed in the human body, which means that the relative concentration reaching the prostate gland will be greater. Therefore, taking this MCP may be an excellent way to prevent prostate cancer, given that prostate cancer is regarded as a preventable cancer. Moreover, this MCP may be an effective adjuvant medicine for cancer therapy.”

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