Broccoli Compound Has Anti-Aging Effect on the Immune System according to UCLA Study

UCLA researchers have found that surflurophane, a chemical in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables may be able to restore the body's immune response to a more youthful profile.

In the study published in the online edition of the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, the UCLA researchers found that sulflurophane turns on antioxidant genes and enzymes in specific immune cells, which in turn then can mop up cell-damaging free radicals.  

Free radicals are a supercharged form of oxygen produced as part of normal body processes such as the metabolic conversion of food into energy, but are also generated as a result of cell and tissue exposure to noxious compounds such as small particles found in polluted air. These molecules have been linked to oxidative tissue damage which can set the stage for (or contribute to existing) disease by doing such things as trigger inflammation. Inflammation in arteries is part and parcel of the process that leads to clogged arteries. Oxidative damage itself is considered one of the major causes of aging.

In the human body there is a dynamic give-and-take equilibrium exists in the body between the mechanisms that favor increased free radical production (prooxidant) and the antioxidant defenses or pathways that help combat free radicals.

"The mysteries of aging have always intrigued man," said Dr. Andre Nel, the study's principal investigator and chief of nanomedicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "While we have known for some time that free radicals are important in aging, most of the past attention has focused on the mechanisms that produce free radicals rather than addressing the pathways used by the body to suppress their production."

"Our study contributes to the growing understanding of the importance of these antioxidant defense pathways that the body uses to fight free radicals," said Dr. Nel, a practicing clinical allergist and immunologist at the GeffenSchool. "Insight into these processes points to ways in which we may be able to alleviate the effects of aging."

The balance between pro-oxidant and antioxidant processes in the body are thought to influence the genesis, progress and outcome of many disease processes that are associated with aging, including cardiovascular disease, degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis and Type II diabetes, as well as the general decline in the immune system's ability to protect against viruses and other infectious agents.

"As we age, the ability of the immune system to fight disease and infections and protect against cancer wears down as a result of the impact of oxygen radicals on the immune system," Dr. Nel added.

According to the findings of the UCLA study, the ability of aged tissues to revitalize their antioxidant defenses appears to play a critical tole in terms of reversing much of the adverse impact of free radicals on the immune system. However, until this particular study was carried out, the extent to which antioxidant defenses can impact the aging process with respect to the immune system was not exactly understood.

"Our defense against oxidative stress damage may determine at what rate we age, how it will manifest and how to interfere in those processes," said Dr. Nel. "In particular, our study shows that a chemical present in broccoli is capable of stimulating a wide range of antioxidant defense pathways and may be able to interfere with the age-related decline in immune function."

UCLA researchers discovered that not only did direct addition of sulforaphane to broccoli reverse the decline in cellular immune function when given to aged mice, but they saw virtually the same thing when they took individual immune cells from these animals, treated them with sulforaphane outside the body and then placed the treated cells back into a recipient mouse.

What was especially compelling was that dendritic cells, which basically present infectious agents and foreign substances to the immune system, were especially effective in restoring immune function in aged animals when exposed to sulforaphane.

"We found that treating older mice with sulforaphane increased the immune response to the level of younger mice," said Dr. Hyon-Jeen Kim, lead author and research scientist at the GeffenSchool.

As part of its work, the UCLA group confirmed that sulforaphane interacts with a protein called Nrf2, which is capable of switching on hundreds of antioxidant and rejuvenating genes and enzymes in cells and tissues throughout the body.