X-Message-Number: 12392
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 09:15:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: diet and DNA damage

Authors
  Djuric Z.  Depper JB.  Uhley V.  Smith D.  Lababidi S.  Martino S.  Heilbrun
  LK.
Institution
  Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit,
  Mich., USA.
Title
  Oxidative DNA damage
  levels in blood from women at high risk for
  breast cancer are associated with dietary intakes of meats, vegetables, and
  fruits.
Source
  Journal of the American Dietetic Association.  98(5):524-8, 1998 May.
Abstract
  OBJECTIVE: We examined the relationship between intakes of specific
  foods--namely, meats, vegetables, and fruits--with levels of
  oxidative DNA damage in
  women consuming their own usual diet or a diet low in fat. DESIGN:
  Blood was obtained from women who had been assigned randomly
  to a low-fat or nonintervention diet for 3 to 24 months.
  Levels of 5-hydroxymethyluracil, a type of
  oxidative DNA damage, were
  determined. Diet data were obtained from 3-day food records.
  SUBJECTS/SETTING: The 21 women were participating in an outpatient clinic.
  All the women were healthy but had a first-degree relative with breast
  cancer. INTERVENTION: The intervention was a self-selected diet with a goal
  of 15% of energy from fat. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Existing data on
  oxidative DNA damage
  levels were evaluated for possible relationships to foods
  eaten. Intakes of raw and cooked vegetables were examined separately. Meat
  intake was examined by type of meat (pork, beef, fish, chicken) and by
  cooking temperature. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Initial univariate analyses relied
  on Spearman rank correlations of each food item with DNA
  damage. Further analyses of the data were performed with
  univariate and multivariate weighted least squares regression models.
  RESULTS: The model that best explained DNA
  damage levels was a bivariate regression
  model that included the intake of cooked vegetables and the sum of beef and
  pork intake. This model accounted for 85% of the variation in
  DNA damage levels among
  women. Preliminary results are suggestive of a positive association of
  DNA damage with beef and pork intake and a
  negative association with cooked vegetable intake. APPLICATION: These
  observations, if confirmed in larger studies, suggest specific dietary
  changes to reduce oxidative DNA
  damage levels and possibly cancer risk.

  Additional note by poster:

     Although it was not emphasized in the abstract, the scientists found
  in this study that the largest negative correlation with DNA damage was 
  with poultry consumption - not cooked vegetables.
     However other research has found a large decrease in DNA damage due
  to carrot juice ingestion. Calories had no effect.

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