Gianluca
Well-Known Member
I was searching some data on B vitamins and I came across a few studies linked to an article on Examinate.com
Do B vitamins increase the risk of getting cancer?
Studies linked long term high dose B 6 12 vitamins consumption and smoking to lung cancer. Ok the subjects were smoking.
But I found something interesting on how the Vitamins could interact with DNA Methylation, here the text from the article:
"One-carbon chemical groups lack stability, so they need to be attached to larger molecules in a process called one-carbon metabolism. The vitamins B6, B9,[6] and B12 play an important part in one-carbon metabolism, which in turn plays a crucial part in methylation reactions and nucleotide synthesis.
The nucleus of each of your cells contains your complete DNA. In your DNA is encoded the genetic blueprint for every protein in your body. How then do cells maintain a unique identity? By each reading only certain parts of your DNA, so that only the appropriate genes are turned on at the appropriate time.
For that purpose, sections of your DNA can be “marked” with methyl groups that prevent the expression of nearby genes. This type of epigenetic imprinting is critical to keeping cells normal, healthy, and well behaved. When the process becomes dysfunctional, the wrong genes can be turned on at the wrong times, potentially leading to uncontrolled cell growth — to cancer.
So how would high amounts of B6 or B12 increase cancer risk? We might find some clues in a recent study on DNA methylation,[7] which found that two years of supplementation with 400 mcg of B9and 500 mcg of B12 changed DNA methylation. Thus, the increase in cancer risk seen in the Brasky study could be caused, in part, by changes in DNA methylation from long-term B vitamin supplementation.
Another curious finding from the Brasky study was that only men saw an increase in cancer risk from B6 or B12 supplementation. Women did not. We know androgens regulate some of the enzymes that participate in one-carbon metabolism,[8] which might explain the difference."
Do B vitamins increase the risk of getting cancer?
Studies linked long term high dose B 6 12 vitamins consumption and smoking to lung cancer. Ok the subjects were smoking.
But I found something interesting on how the Vitamins could interact with DNA Methylation, here the text from the article:
"One-carbon chemical groups lack stability, so they need to be attached to larger molecules in a process called one-carbon metabolism. The vitamins B6, B9,[6] and B12 play an important part in one-carbon metabolism, which in turn plays a crucial part in methylation reactions and nucleotide synthesis.
The nucleus of each of your cells contains your complete DNA. In your DNA is encoded the genetic blueprint for every protein in your body. How then do cells maintain a unique identity? By each reading only certain parts of your DNA, so that only the appropriate genes are turned on at the appropriate time.
For that purpose, sections of your DNA can be “marked” with methyl groups that prevent the expression of nearby genes. This type of epigenetic imprinting is critical to keeping cells normal, healthy, and well behaved. When the process becomes dysfunctional, the wrong genes can be turned on at the wrong times, potentially leading to uncontrolled cell growth — to cancer.
So how would high amounts of B6 or B12 increase cancer risk? We might find some clues in a recent study on DNA methylation,[7] which found that two years of supplementation with 400 mcg of B9and 500 mcg of B12 changed DNA methylation. Thus, the increase in cancer risk seen in the Brasky study could be caused, in part, by changes in DNA methylation from long-term B vitamin supplementation.
Another curious finding from the Brasky study was that only men saw an increase in cancer risk from B6 or B12 supplementation. Women did not. We know androgens regulate some of the enzymes that participate in one-carbon metabolism,[8] which might explain the difference."
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