bloodSick containers often include warnings about certain foods or drinks to avoid when taking certain medications. for example, grapefruit Juice may interfere with the breakdown of statins in the intestines, causing the drugs to remain active in the body for too long.1 Likewise, consumption alcohol Concurrent use with medications can be dangerous because it can alter the metabolism of drugs in the liver, which can lead to added or exaggerated side effects and can cause liver damage by placing undue strain on the body’s overall metabolic functions.2
But not all diet-drug interactions are bad. In a recent study Davide RuggeroThe team, who are cancer biologists at the University of California, San Francisco, discovered that a high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet, known as the ketogenic diet, or keto diet, can reshape the translationome, or set of molecules. Fat-loving pancreatic cancer cells are actively translating in mice. These modifications improved the effectiveness of targeted cancer treatments in inhibiting tumor growth. The research results are natureWe have laid the foundation for investigating personalized drug-diet combinations as potential cancer treatments.3
“We live in a time when various diet methods, such as intermittent fasting, ketogenic diets, and calorie restriction, are increasingly used for metabolic diseases such as diabetes, but there has been a lot of emphasis on using these methods when thinking about cancer patients. “Ruggero said.
Previously, Ruggero found that mice that were fasting or eating a ketogenic diet showed increased phosphorylation of a protein called ketogenic protein. Eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF4E)This helps the liver metabolize lipids.4 In a recent study, the team wanted to uncover the metabolic mechanisms underlying this beneficial effect and explore how the ketogenic pathway could be harnessed to enhance cancer treatment.
First, the team characterized the relationship between high fat and eIF4E by measuring its activity in the liver. Their experiments showed that a ketogenic diet increases fatty acids in the liver, which initiates ketogenesis by activating a pathway that begins with phosphorylation of eIF4E. Increased phosphorylation of eIF4E shifts translational control in liver cells, resulting in increased expression of genes involved in fat metabolism. This triggered a metabolic switch to burning fat for energy instead of the usual glucose. Burning fat produces ketone bodies in the animal’s blood, which is a hallmark of a ketogenic diet.
It is already known that it can be used to treat pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers. Ketone bodies for energy sourceAs an alternative to regular glucose.3,5 So Ruggero and his team wondered whether they could make pancreatic cancer cells rely on the energy pathway initiated by eIF4E simply by changing the animal’s diet.
Ruggero’s team utilized a mouse model of pancreatic cancer to test the combined effects of tomivosertib, a drug that inhibits phosphorylated eIF4E, and a ketogenic diet. By pharmacologically blocking the only food source, cancer cells were depleted and tumor growth was blocked. However, this compound had no effect on mice eating a normal diet.
“It was an amazing result,” said Ruggero. “Cancer is not made up of cells that come from space or Mars, but is actually a process that hijacks something that was already happening. [in our bodies] “For other reasons.”
“The buzzword now is ‘diet-drug interaction,’” he said. michael pollackis an oncologist and researcher at McGill University who was not involved in the study. “If we had a cancer treatment diet, make no mistake, that would be my first choice,” Pollak said. Unfortunately, Pollak points out, that’s not where the scientific evidence points. “Diet on its own may not be influential enough to make a difference, but it may actually sensitize tumors to certain drugs,” he explained.
Preclinical cancer studies in mice have shown the potential to: keto diet.6 However, human experiments in this field It was difficult to interpretpartly There are many different methodsThe ideal food combination for different types of cancer is not yet known. draw strong conclusions.7-9
Next, Ruggero and his team want to explore how different types of cancer respond to different types of diets and treatments, and why, to help develop effective personalized medicines. Dr. Ruggero said, “We always think of personalized medicine from a pharmacological perspective. The cool part about this is that if we can think about personalized medicine based on what the patient wants to eat and what they can eat, then the patient…[to] Guide yourself to treatments that may help improve the effectiveness of your medications. “It’s really cool to think about personalized medicine based on food.”
