Bilberry, the Potential Anti Liver Cancer Herbal Remedy, According to PubMed

By Kyle J. Norton

Scientists may have found a herbal remedy for the treatment of liver cancer with no side effects, according to studies.

Liver cancer is a medical condition characterized by cell growth irregularly in the liver tissue.

The causes of liver cancer are associated with the alternation of cells DNA which normally begin in the cells on the surface of the inner lining.

 Liver cancer at the early stage no not cause any symptoms. However, at the advanced stage, liver cancer cells can cause a wide range of symptoms including jaundice, abdominal swelling and pain, and dark urine and white stool accompanied by the general symptoms of cancers such as unintended weight loss, loss of appetite, chronic fatigue and tiredness and gastrointestinal discomforts.

If you experience some symptoms of the above, please make sure you check with your doctor to rule out the possibility of liver cancer.

The most common cause of liver cancer is infected by the hepatitis virus. However, in North America, due to overexpression of overweight and obese of the population, liver cancer may be slowly progressed from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease through cirrhosis to liver cancer.

There are numbers of risk factors other than those mentioned above associated with the onset of liver cancer such as male, ethnicity, hepatitis viral carriers.

However, most people with some of the above risk factors have never developed liver cancer.

Some researchers suggested that the widespread obesity may be one of the major risk factors involved the onset of the disease.

Dr. Aleksandrova K, the lead scientist in the article of obesity and liver cancer said, "Obesity and related metabolic disorders have become globally prevalent posing a challenge for the chronically damaged liver and predisposing the development and progression of cancer".

And, "Accumulating evidence has established an association between higher body mass index as an indicator of general obesity and a higher risk of primary liver cancer. The associations are stronger in men, in patients with underlying liver disease and in white ethnic groups. Abdominal obesity, weight gain in adult life and metabolic factors related to visceral fat accumulation were also suggested as important risk factors for liver cancer".

The results clearly suggested that if you are obese, your risk of liver cancer is increased substantially, compared to non-obese individuals.

Bilberry is a species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, belonging to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern Europe.

The herbal plant has been used as foods and herbs in traditional medicine for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, gastritis, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, anemia, cystitis, kidney disease, and psoriasis, diabetes, etc.

Scientists on finding a natural ingredient for the treatment of liver cancer investigated the protective effect of bilberry extracts (BBE) and enzymatically modified isoquercitrin (EMIQ) on the hepatocarcinogenic process involving oxidative stress responses.

Rat selected to the study was injected to introduce the two-stage hepatocarcinogenesis in N-diethylnitrosamine-initiated and piperonyl butoxide (PBO).

Co-administration of BBE or EMIQ suppressed these effects with the reductions of GST-P(+) foci (area) to 48.9-49.4% and Ki-67(+) cells proliferation to 55.5-61.4% of the PBO-injected cases.

Neither BBE nor EMIQ alone decreased microsomal reactive oxygen species induced by PBO.

Co-administration of BBE and EMIQ decreased the incidences of phospho-PTEN(-) foci which plays a critical role in enhancing malignant proliferation and invasion abilities of liver cancer cells, to 59.8-72.2% and Smad4(-) foci to 62.4-71.5% in the promotion of liver cancer of the PBO-promoted cases.

Furthermore, injection also BBE also suppressed the incidence of phospho-Akt substrate(+) involved liver cancer cell survival to 75.2-75.7% of the PBO-promoted cases. 

The finding strongly suggested that co-treatment with BBE or EMIQ suppressed cell proliferation activity of preneoplastic liver cells.

Additionally, in order to reveal more information about bilberry anti-liver cancer activity, researchers examined the anthocyanins cancer chemopreventive properties in preclinical models.

In this study, anthocyanins and their metabolites were analyzed in the urine of two patients with colorectal liver metastases.

A single dose of 1.88 g standardized bilberry extract (mirtoselect) via either nasogastric or nasojejunal tube intra-operatively during liver resection showed that there were more anthocyanins and metabolites in the urine of the patient who received mirtoselect via the stomach than via the jejunum.

These results suggested that bilberry extract (mirtoselect) via nasojejunal tube intra-operatively exerted anti-liver cancer effects without reducing the expression of anthocyanins, as the stomach is the predominant site for anthocyanin absorption.

Taken altogether, bilberry may be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and treatment of  liver cancer, pending to the confirmation of large sample size and multicenter human study.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters 
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally 

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca


Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

References
(1) Tumor suppression effects of bilberry extracts and enzymatically modified isoquercitrin in early preneoplastic liver cell lesions induced by piperonyl butoxide promotion in a two-stage rat hepatocarcinogenesis model by Hara S1, Morita R2, Ogawa T1, Segawa R1, Takimoto N1, Suzuki K3, Hamadate N4, Hayashi SM5, Odachi A6, Ogiwara I6, Shibusawa S7, Yoshida T1, Shibutani M. (PubMed)
(2) Determination of anthocyanins in the urine of patients with colorectal liver metastases after administration of bilberry extract by Cai H1, Thomasset SC, P-Berry D, Garcea G, Brown K, Steward WP, Gescher AJ. (PubMed)
(3) Obesity and Liver Cancer by Aleksandrova K1, Stelmach-Mardas M2,3, Schlesinger S. (PubMed)