ABSTRACT
Chemoprevention by naturally occurring agents is gaining much attention as a newer dimension in the management of cancer. Many naturally occurring agents have shown cancer chemopreventive potential in a variety of bioassay systems and animal models, having relevance to human disease. Phytic acid or Inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), an antioxidant, is a naturally occurring polyphosphorylated carbohydrate that has shown a strong anticancer activity in several experimental models. We assessed the protective effects of Phytic acid against the 7, 12-dimethylbenz [a] anthracene (DMBA)/ 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13- acetate (TPA) induced mouse skin tumorigenesis at 4 and 16 weeks, the time before and after the tumor development. At molecular level we studied expression and promoter CpG methylation status of p21, DAPK1 and COX-2. Our data suggests exposure of DMBA/TPA methylated the promoter region of p21 and DAPK1 genes in time dependent manner that could be the cause of down regulation of their expression with time, which were reversed by administration of phytic acid. But we did not observe methylation in COX-2 whereas upregulation of COX-2 was observed at protein level in mice treated with DMBA followed by TPA in time dependent manner. Administration of phytic acid prevented theses DMBA/TPA induced molecular changes. Study provides a rationale for cancer chemoprevention by natural occurring compounds like Phytic acid.