Indian long pepper has anticancer properties!
Q. Piperlongumine is concerned with- Published on 17 Jan 17a. Anti-malarial drugs
b. Cure for Zika
c. Organic farming
d. Anti-cancer properties
ANSWER: Anti-cancer properties
- The Indian long pepper, widely popular for spicing up food, may soon be used as a potential cancer treatment drug, according to a new study.
- The Indian long pepper contains a chemical that could stop your body from producing an enzyme that is commonly found in tumours in large numbers.
- UT Southwestern Medical Enter scientists have uncovered the chemical process behind anti-cancer properties of a spicy Indian pepper plant called the long pepper, whose suspected medicinal properties date back thousands of years.
- The secret lies in a chemical called Piperlongumine (PL), which has shown activity against many cancers including prostate, breast, lung, colon, lymphoma, leukaemia, primary brain tumours and gastric cancer.
- PL converts to hPL, an active drug that silences a gene called GSTP1.
- The GSTP1 gene produces a detoxification enzyme that is often overly abundant in tumours.
