Pectin Shows Potential Against Prostate Cancer

Researchers from the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the University of Georgia, Athens, recently investigated the anticancer potential of pectin, polysaccharides derived from plant cell walls, with some promising results. They found that both fractionated pectin powder (FPP) and heat-treated citrus pectin (CP) induced programmed cell death when exposed to prostate cancer cells. The results of this research were published in the Aug. 2007 issue of Glycobiology.

The researchers note that people with androgen-independent prostate cancer have rather limited treatment options. Therefore, they sought to identify agents that induce death of both androgen-responsive and androgen-insensitive cells.

Study results showed that FPP induced apoptosis, or programmed cell death, at a rate of approximately 40-fold above nontreated cells in both cell lines. Initially, both CP and pH-modified CP (PectaSol) had little to no apoptotic activity. However, heat treatment of CP led to apoptotic activity at rates comparable to FPP.

These results indicate that specific structural elements within pectin are responsible for the apoptotic activity, and that this structure can be generated, or enriched for, by heat treatment of CP, concluded the researchers. These findings provide the foundation for mechanistic studies of pectin apoptotic activity and a basis for the development of pectin-based pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, or recommended diet changes aimed at combating prostate cancer occurrence and progression.