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Cody Mooneyhan
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A stunning discovery based on epigenetics (the inheritance of
propensities acquired in the womb) reveals that consuming choline—a
nutrient found in eggs and other foods—during pregnancy may
significantly affect breast cancer outcomes for a mother's offspring.
This finding by a team of biologists at Boston University is the first
to link choline consumption during pregnancy to breast cancer. It also
is the first to identify possible choline-related genetic changes that
affect breast cancer survival rates. "We've known for a long time that
some agents taken by pregnant women, such as diethylstibesterol, have
adverse consequences for their daughters," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D.,
Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "But there's an upside.
The emerging science of epigenetics has yielded a breakthrough. For the
first time, we've learned that we might be able to prevent breast
cancer as early as a mother's pregnancy."
The researchers made the discovery in rats by studying females whose
mothers were fed varying amounts of choline during pregnancy. Different
groups of pregnant rats received diets containing standard amounts of
choline, no choline at all, or extra choline. Then the researchers
treated the female offspring with a chemical that causes cancer of the
mammary gland (breast cancer). Although animals in all groups developed
mammary cancer, the daughters of mothers that had received extra
choline during pregnancy had slow growing tumors while daughters of
mothers that had no choline during pregnancy had fast growing tumors.
"Our study provides additional support for the notion that choline
is an important nutrient that has to be considered when dietary
guidelines are developed," said Krzysztof Blusztajn, Ph.D., Professor
of Pathology at Boston University and the study's senior researcher.
"We hope it will be possible to develop nutritional guidelines for
pregnant women that ensure the good health of their offspring well into
old age."
The researchers also found multiple genetic and molecular changes in
the rats' tumors that correlated with survival outcomes. For example,
the slow growing tumors in rats had a genetic pattern similar to those
seen in breast cancers of women who are considered to have a good
prognosis. The fast growing tumors in mice had a pattern of genetic
changes similar to those seen in women with a more aggressive disease.
The researchers also found evidence that these genetic changes may
result from the way that choline affects modifications of the DNA
within the mammary gland of fetuses as they develop in the womb.
The National Cancer Institute estimates that there will be more than
184,000 new cases of breast cancer in 2008 and more than 40,000 deaths.
Treatments for women suffering from breat cancer range from hormone
therapy to surgery.
Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Orginal article: Vesela P. Kovacheva, Jessica M. Davison, Tiffany J. Mellott, Adrianne E. Rogers, Shi Yang, Michael J. O’Brien, and Jan Krzysztof Blusztajn. Raising gestational choline intake alters gene expression in DMBA-evoked mammary tumors and prolongs survival. The FASEB J, published online December 1, 2008.
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