Antioxidant Herbs Support Lung Health

A recently published study examined the effect of resveratrol and curcumin on experimentally induced lung cancer. According to the American Cancer Society data for 2009, there were 219,440 new cases of lung cancer and 159,390 deaths from lung cancer in the United States. Currently, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the United States. In fact, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.

In this new study, researchers evaluated the potential chemo-protective activity of trans-resveratrol and curcumin, which are potent antioxidant botanicals. Resveratrol is found in high concentrations in the skin of red grapes. Curcumin is the yellow pigment derived from the Indian spice turmeric. In this study, mice were treated with benzo(a)pyrene to induce lung cancer. The mice were then separated into five groups: 1) normal, healthy controls; 2) mice treated with benzo(a)pyrene; 3) mice treated with benzo(a)pyrene plus curcumin; 4) mice treated with benzo(a)pyrene plus resveratrol; and 5) mice treated with benzo(a)pyrene plus curcumin and resveratrol.

The results showed that treatment with benzo(a)pyrene resulted in increased lipid peroxidation, decreased levels of reduced glutathione, and decreased activity of the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase, indicating increased oxidative stress and free radical damage. The benzo(a)pyrene treatment also resulted in well-differentiated signs of lung cancer in the cellular architecture.

Treatment with benzo(a)pyrene plus curcumin resulted in a significant decrease in lipid peroxidation, indicating less free radical damage. The group of mice treated with benzo(a)pyrene plus resveratrol exhibited increased levels of superoxide dismutase activity. The combined treatment of benzo(a)pyrene plus curcumin and resveratrol showed significant increases in reduced glutathione levels and superoxide dismutase activity, and decreases in lipid peroxidation. Additionally, both the curcumin and resveratrol treatments improved the architecture of the cells, and the combined treatment resulted in an even more substantial improvement in the cell structure.

Thus, the researchers concluded that the study indicates, “Although treatments with resveratrol and curcumin given separately to BP-treated mice showed appreciable improvement in the histological architecture of the lung, combined treatment resulted in a noticeable improvement in the lung histological architecture.”

References:

Malhotra A, Nair P, Dhawan DK. Modulatory effects of curcumin and resveratrol on lung carcinogenesis in mice. Phytother Res. 2009 Dec 29. Published Online Ahead of Print.