Scientific research shows that supplementing vitamin E, coenzyme Q10 and glutathione can reverse the heart damage caused by cancer

 Vitamin E supplementation, as well as antioxidants CoQ10 and glutathione, can reverse the heart damage of fruit flies caused by tumors
.

Research shows that free radicals are related to heart damage caused by cancer

In fruit flies, antioxidants can reverse tumor-related heart dysfunction
.

A new animal model study showed that cancer tumors themselves can cause heart damage, and pointed out that the culprit is a molecule called free radicals, which interacts with specific cells in the heart
.

Tumors in mice and fruit flies can cause different degrees of cardiac dysfunction, especially the decrease in the blood supply of the heart
.

Adding specific types of antioxidants to the food eaten by tumor-bearing fruit flies can reverse the damage to the heart-this finding suggests that the damage caused by free radicals may be a link between cancer and heart dysfunction
.

"Cancer becomes a systemic disease
.

It's not just a tumor doing one thing," said Shubha Gururaja Rao, assistant professor of pharmacology at Ohio Northern University and part-time teacher of physiology and cell biology at Ohio State University

Most of the known links between cancer and heart damage are related to the toxic effects of chemotherapy and the muscle atrophy that cancer patients often experience
.

This is the first study to use genetic models to study the direct impact of cancer on cardiac dysfunction
.

Researchers have found that different cancer-related genes affect the heart in different ways—an indication that genetic information may one day guide cardioprotective treatment decisions for cancer patients

Harpreet Singh, one of the lead authors of the study and associate professor of physiology and cell biology at Ohio State University, said: “This shows that if you know the genes that cause cancer or the abnormal genes of certain cancers, The treatment can be tailored
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"Most importantly, we want to make clinicians realize that when cancer is first discovered, other organs have received information and are affected well before muscle atrophy or chemotherapy begins
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"

The research was published in the journal "Antioxidants"
.

It is estimated that 50% to 80% of cancer patients will suffer from cachexia, leading to muscle atrophy, which may lead to heart failure.
Radiotherapy and chemotherapy can cause toxicity-related damage to the myocardium
.

However, new research suggests that heart problems may occur before cancer treatment or muscle atrophy occurs
.

The Ohio State University research team pointed out that a recent study published in the Journal of The America Heart Association stated that the heart tissue and heart function of human cancer patients were discovered before cancer treatment began.

In this new study, researchers at Ohio State University injected breast cancer cells into the mammary glands of mice and measured the animal's heart function four weeks later
.

They found that the left ventricular ejection fraction and shortening fraction, two indicators of heart pumping volume, decreased by about 20% and 22%, respectively

In Drosophila, the research team overexpressed oncogenes, which triggered the development of eye tumors in Drosophila
.

The scientists observed a significant decrease in ejection fraction and shortening fraction—similar to those observed in mice with tumors—and an increase in the heart rate of flies with tumors

The researchers found that compared with the control group, the total amount of free radicals (also known as reactive oxygen species) in the tumor-bearing fruit flies increased, and the total amount of free radicals increased
.

Compared with the control group, the active oxygen generation rate of tumor mice was also significantly higher

To test whether supplements can reverse tumor-associated heart damage, researchers in Drosophila food for seven days to add four antioxidants: glutathione (GSH), vitamin E, coenzyme q10 or vitamin C
.

The results showed that all vitamins except vitamin C can restore the heart function of fruit flies to normal levels
.

Rao said: "We don't yet know why one antioxidant is effective against another
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" He added that because fruit flies eat antioxidants in food, researchers do not currently have clear information about the dosage of antioxidants

She and Singh also emphasized that reactive oxygen species are only a confirmed mechanism of tumor-related heart damage, and there is still much to be understood about how antioxidants are suitable for treatment options
.

Although this study focused on an oncogene to study the mechanism of heart damage in fruit flies, the researchers initially tested the effects of several oncogenes in fruit flies
.
The degree to which the function of the heart is affected and the degree to which it affects the heart vary from gene to gene
.
Rao plans to continue genetic research on fruit flies and test the healing effects of antioxidants on the hearts of tumor-bearing mice
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Singer is working with clinicians at Ohio State University and other institutions to collect blood samples from cancer patients with heart failure
.

"The signal is transmitted from the tumor to the heart, and the tissue connecting these parts is blood-so the question is, do reactive oxygen species flow in the blood?" He said
.
"In clinical terms, our first task is to find different carcinogenic pathways and The correlation between heart failure
.
Second, we want to know what the information is and whether we can prescribe antioxidants
.
"

references:

"Tumor-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction: A Potential Role of ROS" by Priyanka Karekar, Haley N.
Jensen, Kathryn LG Russart, Devasena Ponnalagu, Sarah Seeley, Shridhar Sanghvi, Sakima A.
Smith, Leah M.
Pyter, Harpreet Singh and Shubha Gururaja Rao, 18 August 2021, Antioxidants .

DOI: 10.
3390/antiox10081299