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Source: Washington University School of Medicine
Date: 2005-07-01
URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050701062536.htm
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Pomegranate Juice For Moms May Help Babies Resist Brain Injury
St. Louis, June 28, 2005 -- Expectant mothers at risk of premature birth
may want to consider drinking pomegranate juice to help their babies
resist brain injuries from low oxygen and reduced blood flow, a new
mouse study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
suggests.
In humans, decreased blood flow and oxygen to the infant brain is linked
to premature birth and other irregularities during pregnancy, birth and
early development. The phenomenon, which is called hypoxia ischemia,
causes brain injury in approximately 2 of every 1,000 full-term human
births and in a very high percentage of babies born before 34 weeks of
gestation. Hypoxic ischemic brain injury can lead to seizures, a
degenerative condition known as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, and
mobility impairments including cerebral palsy.
When scientists temporarily lowered brain oxygen levels and brain blood
flow in newborn mice whose mothers drank water mixed with pomegranate
concentrate, their brain tissue loss was reduced by 60 percent in
comparison to mice whose mothers drank sugar water or other fluids.
"Hypoxic ischemic brain injury in newborns is very difficult to treat,
and right now there's very little we can do to stop or reverse its
consequences," explains senior author David Holtzman, M.D., the Andrew
B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and head of the Department of
Neurology. "Most of our efforts focus on stopping it when it happens,
but if we could treat everyone who's at risk preventively, we may be
able to reduce the impacts of these kinds of injuries."
The study, which appears in the June issue of Pediatric Research, was
conducted in collaboration with POM Wonderful, a U.S. producer of
pomegranates and pomegranate juice, and scientists at the University of
California, Los Angeles. Lead author David Loren, M.D., formerly a
neonatal critical care fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, performed
the research. He is now at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Holtzman's lab has been studying neonatal brain injury for more than a
decade by temporarily reducing oxygen levels and blood flow in the
brains of 7-day-old mouse and rat pups. The model produces brain
injuries similar to those seen in human infants injured by hypoxia
ischemia.
Pomegranates contain very high concentrations of polyphenols, substances
also found in grapes, red wine, and berries that scientists have linked
to potential neuroprotective and anti-aging effects.
Scientists gave pregnant female mice water with pomegranate juice, plain
water, sugar water or vitamin C water to drink during the last third of
pregnancy and while they suckled their pups for seven days after birth.
After performing the procedures that exposed mouse pups to low oxygen
levels, scientists examined the brains, comparing damage to the cortex,
hippocampus and the striatum. Researchers who conducted the examinations
were unaware of what the pup's mother drank. Mice whose mothers drank
pomegranate juice had brain injuries less than half the size of those
found in other mice.
Much of the damage from hypoxia ischemia results when oxygen-starved
brain cells self-destruct via a process known as apoptosis. Scientists
found an enzyme linked to apoptosis, caspase-3, was 84 percent less
active in mice whose mothers drank pomegranate juice.
Holtzman says the results suggest the need for studies of pomegranate
juice's effects in humans, but he cautions that because of the relative
unpredictability of hypoxia ischemia in newborns, it would be difficult
to assemble a sufficiently large study group.
Hypoxic ischemic brain damage is frequently associated with premature
delivery. The lungs, brain and circulatory systems in some premature
babies are insufficiently mature to supply the brain with enough
nutrients and oxygen outside the womb. Scientists know some of the
factors that increase risk of premature birth, including diabetes, low
economic status, youthful mothers, weakness in the cervix and a personal
or familial history of miscarriage.
"One might advise this group that studies in animals have suggested
drinking pomegranate juice may reduce the risk of injury from hypoxia
ischemia," he says.
Holtzman's findings and other research into the potentially beneficial
effects of pomegranate juice, red wine, and other natural foods form a
neurological parallel to chemoprevention, an area of oncology research
focused on finding naturally-occurring substances in foods that reduce
the chances of developing cancer.
"For pregnant women previously interested in the neuroprotective effects
of red wine, these results suggest that pomegranate juice may provide an
alternative during pregnancy, when alcohol consumption is unacceptable
because it increases risk of birth defects," Holtzman says.
Holtzman's group is attempting to isolate the neuroprotective
ingredients in pomegranate juice as a possible prelude to concentrating
those ingredients and testing their ability to reduce brain injury. They
also plan to investigate the possibility that polyphenols from
pomegranates and other natural foods can slow other neurological
disorders including Alzheimer's disease.
###
Loren DJ, Seeram NP, Schulman RN, Holtzman DM. Maternal dietary
supplementation with pomegranate juice is neuroprotective in an animal
model of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Pediatric Research,
June 2005, 858-864.
Funding from the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Revocable Trust and the
National Institutes of Health supported this research.
Washington University School of Medicine's full-time and volunteer
faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St.
Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading
medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation,
currently ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's
hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
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This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Washington
University School of Medicine.
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