AMALA NAGAR, India--Sulphoraphane, an antioxidant isothiocyanate present in cruciferous vegetables, limits lung metastasis in mice and inhibits lung tumor cells in vitro, according to new research from Amala Cancer Research Center (Life Sci, 78, 26:3043-50, 2006).
Researchers induced lung metastasis with B16F-10 melanoma cells in C57BL/6 mice. In metastatic tumor-bearing animals treated with sulforaphane, lung tumor nodule formation was inhibited by 95.5 percent and life span increased by 94.06 percent. Sulforaphane also lowered highly elevated levels of lung tumor-related compounds including hydroxyproline, lung uronic acid, lung hexosamine, serum sialic acid and serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT).
In an in vitro system, the researchers found sulforaphane significantly inhibited the invasion of B16F-10 melanoma cells across a collagen matrix. Further, a proliferation assay showed sulforaphane thwarted proliferation of B16F-10 melanoma cells, and gelatin zymographic analysis showed sulforaphane tended to halt activation of matrix metalloproteinases in vitro.
The researchers concluded sulforaphane reduced the invasion of B16F-10 melanoma cells by inhibiting activation of matrix metalloproteinases, thereby inhibiting lung metastasis.
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