::.. WCCN 2010 ..::.. Abstracts ..::

15^th World Congress Clinical Nutrition

19^th – 22^nd September 2010 El Sokhna Resort - Egypt

Nutritional treatment and nutritional modulation of oxidative stress in cancer.

Samir Sukkar Dietetics & Nutritional Unit, University-Hospital San Martino, Genoa, Italy

In the field of biology free radicals which are derived from the incomplete reduction of oxygen take on great importance; they belong to the so called ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) whose production in the organism is an inevitable consequence of various external or internal factors to which it is exposed.

Once free radicals are generated they are often capable of giving rise to chain reactions.

A lot of biological molecules are susceptible to an attack from free radicals including lipids, proteins, carbohydrates and nucleic acids. Molecular alterations caused the radical reactions have been frequently studied and are considered as pathogenetically fundamental passages in the development of many diseases and ageing.

In order to face a radical attack, living organisms have developed several biological defensive systems against it: the main ones are represented by anti oxidizing molecules and by enzymatic anti oxidizing systems. Among the various defence systems, glutathione stands out as the principal guarantor of homoeostatic intra-cellular oxidation-reduction. One of glutathione’s most important functions is to act as cysteine “tank”; this amino acid is extremely unstable in the extra-cellular environment and it rapidly auto-oxidates.

Milk serum proteins (WP) are particularly rich in cysteine and therefore potentially capable of increasing the organism’s antioxidant defences.

It is thought that the principal mechanism which allows WPs to exert their properties is through the contribution of cysteine, which is rich is these and is used intra-cellularly for the synthesis of glutathione. A diet based on milk serum proteins which supply a superior quantity of cysteine, allow for a greater synthesis of hepatic glutathione in oxidative stress conditions. The use of ultra-filtrated milk serum protein could represent a useful tool in the control of oxidative stress in numerous pathological situations and particularly in haematological cancer patients.

Scientific Sessions Abstracts

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