METHODS: This hospital based case control study conducted in the Western part of Nepal covered a total of 93 cancer patients with or without alcohol intake and smoking habits, along with 94 age, sex and habit-matched individuals serving as controls. Plasma thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS), total antioxidant activity (TAA), vitamin C, α-tocopherol and erythrocyte reduced glutathione (GSH) were estimated and compared.
RESULTS: The TBARS level was found to be significantly higher (p≤0.001) in all types of cancer patients when compared to controls, being aggravated in alcoholics with a smoking habit. No statistical significance (p≥0.05) was observed in the level of vitamin C and α-tocopherol. GSH and TAA level were significantly decreased (p≤0.001) in all the groups except those who consumed both branded as well as homemade alcohol and non-alcoholics without smoking habit.
CONCLUSION: Alcohol, irrespective of its commercial brand, increases oxidative stress in all types of cancer patients. This is even higher when alcohol intake is combined with a smoking habit. Decreased TAA and GSH are major risk factors for cancer development.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included a total of 240 matched cases and controls where subjects were selected from the Malaysian Oral Cancer Database and Tissue Bank System (MOCDTBS). Retinol, α-tocopherol and β-carotene levels and intake were examined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) respectively.
RESULTS: It was found that results from the two methods applied did not correlate, so that further analysis was done using the HPLC method utilising blood serum. Serum levels of retinol and α-tocopherol among cases (0.177±0.081, 1.649±1.670μg/ml) were significantly lower than in controls (0.264±0.137, 3.225±2.054μg/ml) (p<0.005). Although serum level of β-carotene among cases (0.106±0.159 μg/ml) were lower compared to controls (0.134±0.131μg/ml), statistical significance was not observed. Logistic regression analysis showed that high serum level of retinol (OR=0.501, 95% CI=0.254-0.992, p<0.05) and α-tocopherol (OR=0.184, 95% CI=0.091-0.370, p<0.05) was significantly related to lower risk of oral cancer, whereas no relationship was observed between β-carotene and oral cancer risk.
CONCLUSIONS: High serum levels of retinol and α-tocopherol confer protection against oral cancer risk.
Materials and Methods: Three months old Sprague Dawley male rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: (I) control group; (II) alcohol (3g/kg) + normal saline; (III) alcohol (3g/kg) + olive oil; (IV) alcohol (3g/kg) + alpha-tocopherol (60mg/kg) and (V) alcohol (3g/kg) + palm vitamin E (60mg/kg). The treatment lasted for three months. Following sacrifice, the right tibia was subjected to bone biomechanical test while the lumbar (fourth and fifth lumbar) and left tibia bones were harvested for bone mineral measurement.
Results: Alcohol caused reduction in bone biomechanical parameters (maximum force, ultimate stress, yield stress and Young's modulus) and bone minerals (bone calcium and magnesium) compared to control group (P<0.05). Palm vitamin E was able to improve bone biomechanical parameters by increasing the maximum force, ultimate stress and Young's modulus (P<0.05) while alpha-tocopherol was not able to. Both alpha-tocopherol and palm vitamin E were able to significantly increase tibia calcium and magnesium content while only alpha-tocopherol caused significant increase in lumbar calcium content (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Both palm vitamin E and alpha-tocopherol improved bone mineral content which was reduced by alcohol. However, only palm vitamin E was able to improve bone strength in alcohol treated rats.