ABSTRACT
The protective role of two commonly consumed natural dietary items- bitter gourd and tomato against endogenous as well as 7,12- dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced lipid peroxidation in the livers of mice was investigated. The rationale for such an approach is that lipid peroxidation has been suggested to play a key role in human cancer development. There was a sharp rise in lipid peroxidation (measured as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances formation) during skin carcinogenesis induced by DMBA in mice. Aqueous extracts of bitter gourd and tomato juice were found to be very potent inhibitors of lipid peroxidation both in normal and DMBA treated mice. Our observations support the hypothesis that natural combinations of phytochemicals present in the fruit juices exert cancer-protective effects via a decrease in lipid peroxidation.
