 | CANCER PREVENTION: NOVEL NUTRIENT AND PHARMACEUTICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Copyright © 1999 by the New York Academy of Sciences
description
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 889:87-106 (1999)
© 1999 New York Academy of Sciences
Micronutrient Deficiencies: A Major Cause of DNA Damage
BRUCE N. AMESa
University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3202, USA
aAddress for correspondence: 401 Barker Hall MCB/BMB, Berkely, CA. Voice: 510-642-5165; fax: 510-643-7935. e-mail: bnames{at}uclink4.berkeley.edu
Deficiencies of the vitamins B 12, B 6, C, E, folate, or niacin, or of iron or zinc mimic radiation in damaging DNA by causing single- and double-strand breaks, oxidative lesions, or both. The percentage of the population of the United States that has a low intake (<50% of the RDA) for each of these eight micronutrients ranges from 2% to 20+ percent. A level of folate deficiency causing chromosome breaks occurred in approximately 10% of the population of the United States, and in a much higher percentage of the poor. Folate deficiency causes extensive incorporation of uracil into human DNA (4 million/cell), leading to chromosomal breaks. This mechanism is the likely cause of the increased colon cancer risk associated with low folate intake. Some evidence, and mechanistic considerations, suggest that vitamin B 12 and B 6 deficiencies also cause high uracil and chromosome breaks. Micronutrient deficiency may explain, in good part, why the quarter of the population that eats the fewest fruits and vegetables (five portions a day is advised) has about double the cancer rate for most types of cancer when compared to the quarter with the highest intake. Eighty percent of American children and adolescents and 68% of adults do not eat five portions a day. Common micronutrient deficiencies are likely to damage DNA by the same mechanism as radiation and many chemicals, appear to be orders of magnitude more important, and should be compared for perspective. Remedying micronutrient deficiencies is likely to lead to a major improvement in health and an increase in longevity at low cost.
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