Proanthocyanidins help prevent skin cancer

A one-day symposium held on March 25, 2007 during the 233rd national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago was the site of a presentation by associate professor Santosh Katiyar, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham department of dermatology concerning the finding that proanthocyanidins from grape seeds help prevent ultraviolet light-induced skin cancer by improving the immune system.

Hairless mice were given diets supplemented with a high or low percentage of grape seed proanthocyanidins, or a control diet and exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) light. Mice that received proanthocyanidins experienced a reduction in tumor incidence, as well as fewer and smaller tumors compared with animals provided with an unenhanced diet.

Because immune suppression caused by ultraviolet-B radiation has been implicated in skin cancer risk, the research team investigated whether grapeseed proanthocyanidins affected UVB's effect on immune function. They found that the compound inhibited ultraviolet-B induced suppression of contact hypersensitivity in mice. Administration of proanthocyanidins reduced the increase in an immunosuppressive cytokine known as interleukin-10 in skin exposed to ultraviolet-B and in draining lymph notes compared with animals that did not receive the compound, while enhancing the production of immunostimulatory cytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12) in lymph nodes. Mice injected with an antibody that neutralized IL-12 did not experience the protective effects of proanthocyanidins against UVB induced immune suppression. "Our data suggested that prevention of photocarcinogenesis by grape seed proanthocyanidins is mediated through development of anti-tumor immune responses, which are regulated by IL-12 induction in mice," the authors conclude.

"Grape seed proanthocyanidins also have antioxidant properties, and UV-induced oxidative stress has been implicated in the induction of skin cancers," Dr Katiyar added. "We speculate that the use of grape seed proanthocyanidins as a dietary supplement may have beneficial effects in protecting cutaneous disorders in UV-exposed skin including the risk of skin cancers."


—D Dye

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That is one benefit of Atkins diet. You don't sunburn near as easy.