For the study, Peter O. Kwiterovich, Jr., M.D., professor of pediatrics and director of the Lipid Clinic at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues analyzed the umbilical cord blood of 163 infants born at 28 or more weeks of gestational age at Johns Hopkins Hospital between January 3 and September 27, 2000. Nineteen percent of the babies were found to have enriched levels of apolipoprotein C-1 bound up in the high density lipoproteins (HDL) circulating in their blood. These infants were born on average 1.3 pounds less and three weeks earlier than those who had normal HDL levels of the suspect particles.

Results are published in the April 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In adults, HDL enriched with apolipoprotein C-1 may be dysfunctional and cause the death of smooth muscle cells that normally are an important part of the protective cap on top of cholesterol plaque in the blood vessels in the heart, Kwiterovich said. If the cap is weakened, the plaque can rupture, causing a heart attack.

"Our hypothesis is that infants with elevated apo C-1 levels at birth will have higher apo C-1 levels in childhood and adulthood" Kwiterovich said. "Many people associate HDL as being the 'good' cholesterol, and indeed, higher levels of HDL in general are, in adults, good. It is the higher apo C-1 levels in these infants that we find worth watching as an early predictor of heart disease. A low-fat diet is particularly important for these children to reduce their risk of heart disease."

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"Our results demonstrate that capsaicin is a potent anticancer agent, induces apoptosis in cancer cells and produces no significant damage to normal pancreatic cells, indicating its potential use as a novel chemotherapeutic agent for pancreatic cancer," said Dr. Srivastava.

In the second study, abstract number 5194, Dr. Srivastava and colleagues examined the therapeutic benefits of phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a constituent of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, on ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer, one of the leading causes of gynecologic cancer-related deaths among women in the United States, is often detected at an advanced stage, making it difficult to treat successfully. In the study, ovarian cancer cells were exposed to PEITC for 24 hours, which resulted in significant inhibition of the protein expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). EGFR plays a crucial role in the growth of ovarian cancer cells. PEITC treatment also inhibited the activation of Akt, which is responsible for protecting cancer cells against apoptosis. The concentrations of PEITC used in the study were at levels that may be achieved through dietary intake.

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