ALBERT

Description: Research over the years has generated enough evidence to implicate areca nut, as a carcinogen in humans. Besides oral, significant rise in the incidence of cancers of the oesophagus, liver and stomach was seen among areca nut chewers. Early diagnosis seems key to understand the initial processes of carcinogenesis which is highly curable. In North-East India, betel quid contains raw areca nut (RAN), lime and small portion of betel leaf without any other constituents. This study was not intended to isolate any active ingredients from the RAN and to look its action. The present objective is to validate the screening of precocious anaphase and analysis of expression of Securin and p53 in non-target cells like human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) and mouse bone marrow cells (BMCs) as early indicative parameters of RAN + lime-induced cancers. A total of 35 mice were examined at different time points for following ad libitum administration of RAN extract in drinking water with lime. Peripheral blood was collected from 32 human donors of which, 24 were RAN + lime heavy chewers. Expression of genes was assessed by immunoblotting and/or by immunohistochemistry. Histological preparation of stomach tissue of mice revealed that RAN + lime induced stomach cancer. A gradual increase in the frequency of precocious anaphases and aneuploid cells was observed in both RAN + lime-treated mouse BMC and human PBL of RAN heavy chewers. Levels of p53 and Securin were increased in these cells during early days of RAN + lime exposure. The level of Securin was significantly higher in human tumour samples than their adjacent normal counterpart. The expression of Securin was increased significantly in RAN + lime-administered mice as well as in stomach tumour. Present study revealed that precocious anaphase and expression of p53 and Securin in non-target cells are significantly associated with an increased risk of RAN-induced cancer and thus these parameters can be of early diagnostic value.