Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Food toxins can cause Liver Cancer

Toxins produced by fungi in grains can lead to liver cancer if consumed in large quantities, said a researcher at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

"Surprising how much of this fungus can affect public health," said Sheryl Tsai, assistant professor of pharmaceutical science and biochemistry, as cited by a study published in the journal "Nature", Thursday.

It is the first time scientists have discovered what triggers the formation of toxins, which can lead to methods of production restrictions.

According to some reports, as many as 4.5 billion people in developing countries are exposed to so much poison, called "aflatoxin", which is often hundreds of times higher than the safe threshold.

In some countries, a combination of "aflatoxin" and exposure to hepatitis B virus increase the likelihood of liver cancer and 60 times, and the cause of cancer-related toxicity was 10 per cent of all deaths in these countries.

Tsai, Strata 1 student and student Tyler Korman, Kamari Bidkorpeh Oliver, along with researchers from Johns Hopkins University, found that a protein called PT is important for "aflatoxin" to form the mold.

Tsai said that PT is a key protein to form a toxin. With that knowledge, scientists can root out PT with the drug, and prevents fungal ability to make "aflatoxin"

"Aflatoxin" can colonize and contaminate peanuts and grains before harvest or during storage. U.S. Food & Drug Administration consider food contaminants that can not be avoided but which set maximum limits allowed.

How to traditional pollution is destroying fungi than just PT, but it was expensive and cost hundreds of millions of dollars around the world.

The researchers say that temua will lead to increased understanding of how "aflatoxin" cause liver cancer in humans.

The findings also provide insight into the mechanisms of production "carcinogen" and that looks small, but real human beings can weaken a target for a new generation of inhibitors

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