This news may provide vital insights in preventing prostate cancer. A study claims that the natural compound xanthohumol could obstruct the consequences of the male hormone testosterone, thereby assisting in averting prostate cancer.
Xanthohumol is apparently resulted from hops and supposedly fits in with the class of flavonoids that are discovered in several plants, fruit, vegetables and spices. Numerous studies have supposedly illustrated that xanthohumol could obstruct the effects of estrogen by attaching to its receptor, which could result in the prevention of breast cancer.
As testosterone receptors perform in the same way as estrogen, by binding, then invigorating hormone-dependent impacts like gene expression and cell growth. The study authors inspected whether xanthohumol might not only obstruct the effects of estrogen, but also the male hormone androgen.
“We hope that one day we can demonstrate that xanthohumol prevents prostate cancer development, first in animal models and then in humans, but we are just at the beginning,†commented Clarissa Gerhauser, Ph.D., group leader of cancer chemoprevention in the Division of Epigenomics and Cancer Risk Factors at the German Cancer Research Center, in Heidelberg, Germany.
Gerhauser and colleagues apparently stirred hormone-dependent prostate cancer cells with testosterone, which supposedly resulted in a huge emission of prostate specific antigen (PSA). PSA is said to be applied for screening and premature discovery of prostate cancer in men. Cells were then believed to be treated with testosterone and xanthohumol and the consequences were checked.
Gerhauser mentioned, “Xanthohumol prevented the receptor from translocating to the cell nucleus, thus inhibiting its potential to stimulate the secretion of PSA and other hormone-dependent effects.â€
Molecular modeling outcomes apparently exhibited that xanthohumol could straightaway attach to the androgen receptor structure. The experts then proposed that this compound could have advantageous consequences in animals. When they gauged the anti-androgenic potential of xanthohumol in a rat model, they apparently discovered that even though xanthohumol could not avert a surge in prostate weight following testosterone treatment, it could lessen testosterone-increased seminal vesicle weight.
Gerhauser concluded by mentioning that although prostate weights were not changed, xanthohumol still reduced the effects of hormone signaling, such as gene expression, measured in the prostate tissue.
The findings of the study were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference in Houston.