The harmful effects of radiation therapy could be counteracted by an ingredient found in vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, RIA Novosti reports.
Researchers at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center discovered that rats given lethal doses of gamma ray radiation were protected by the cruciferous vegetable-derived compound DIM (3,3'-diindolylmethane), which worked as a shield if given to the animals before exposure or up to 24 hours afterwards.
While radiation therapy is used to destroy the DNA of cancer cells which constantly multiply in the body, it can subsequently damage normal DNA cells and cause side effects such as memory loss, fibrosis, scarring, infertility, damage to the bowels, and ironically, the development of a second cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. Fatigue, vomiting and nausea are also common side effects.
However, as the latest study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reports, DIM can work to proect DNA cells and "mitigate acute radiation syndrome due to whole body exposure."
"DIM has been studied as a cancer prevention agent for years, but this is the first indication that DIM can also act as a radiation protector," senior author, Dr. Eliot Rosen of Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, told RIA Novosti. "All of the untreated rats [in our study] died, but well over half of the DIM-treated animals remained alive 30 days after the radiation exposure."
Rosen and his colleagues also found that DIM stimulates a series of enzymes that repair damaged healthy tissue after exposure to radiation.
While scientists have had their eye on DIM as a cancer prevention agent for years, "this is the first indication that DIM can also act as a radiation protector," Rosen explained.
The researchers hypothesize that DIM works by activating an enzyme that regulates the body's responses to DNA damage and stimulates "defenses to oxidative stress in irradiated tissues."
DIM and DIM-related compounds can be administered safely to humans by injection, as study authors are unsure if simply eating cabbage, Swiss chard or Brussel sprouts would be enough to protect the body against exposure.
