9 replies to this topic

[joelcairo]

I've done enough research to be impressed with sulforaphane as an anticancer supplement. In addition to its direct effects, it attacks cancer epigenetically, via DNA demethylation and HDAC inhibition. I'm currently healthy but at (extremely) high risk for a certain kind of cancer, so I've decided I want to be closer to a therapeutic dose than a maintenance dose. I'm currently taking 1 BroccoMax capsule per day, containing 375 mg broccoli seed extract, providing 30 mg sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGS).

I'm going crazy because a lot of articles and even published studies don't properly distinguish sulforaphane from SGS. And some in vivo studies I'm looking at measure the sulforaphane in micromoles rather than mg or mcg, and I have no idea how to do the conversion. AND I just found out that because BroccoMax relies on SGS from seeds instead of sprouts, it doesn't contain an enzyme that is required for optimal absorption of sulforaphane - myrosinase.
http://www.nutraingr...still-effective

Just great. This is curcumin and resveratrol all over again. I bought a package of broccoli sprouts and for the time being and going to munch some along with my BroccoMax pill, but in the long run:

What's the best formulation for bioavailability? Broccoli sprout extract, or is there a catch with that too?

What is a realistic therapeutic dose to shoot for?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.

[hamishm00]

What about the other anti-cancer substances in cruciferous vegetables like indole 3 carbonol and 3,3'-Diindolymethane abd 4’,5,7-trihydroxyflavone (Apigenin)?

Isothiocyanates, sulphoraphane and SGS may only be part of the equation?

[Mind]

I can understand your concern and desire to take the supplement, but maybe it would be better just to eat more broccoli and other veggies that have sulphoraphane.

[joelcairo]

I do eat cruciferous vegetables every day, but that's a lotta broccoli. Eating broccoli sprouts would be somewhat more efficient, but would still require a certain amount of dedication to the task. Then there's still the question of how much to eat to register a clinically measurable effect.

Indole 3 carbinol and apigenin also look healthful, but based on what I've read my primary interest is sulforaphane.

[frederickson]

my understanding is that one cup of broccoli sprouts inhibited HDAC production by 70% (2007 Seminars in Cancer Biology). that is a relatively reasonable dose, imo. this is not to say that supplementation may not be worth it, however.

[ChristineH]

This is an old post but if any of the members are still interested in this topic, Sulforaphane is my research specialty area and I am happy to answer questions. Otherwise, search PubMed for my recent paper, "Sulforaphane: Translational Research from Lab Bench to Clinic". The paper addresses all the issues raised above and more.

[Darryl]

One of the better articles on sulforaphane bioavailability and kinetics is

Vermeulen, Martijn, et al. "Bioavailability and kinetics of sulforaphane in humans after consumption of cooked versus raw broccoli." Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 56.22 (2008): 10505-10509.

Its behind a paywall, but here's the graph showing typical uptake from 200 g broccoli containing about 61.4 μmol of the precursor glucoraphanin.




Note the near 0.1 μM blood peak for sulforaphane conjugates. When 0.1 μM sulforaphane is added to cell cultures, expression of some Nrf2 regulated genes is roughly doubled. See Fig 2 in:

Kensler, Thomas W., and Nobunao Wakabayashi. "Nrf2: friend or foe for chemoprevention?." Carcinogenesis 31.1 (2010): 90-99.

Cruciferous plants likely evolved sulforaphane and the other isothiocyanates to deter insect predation, and at very high doses adverse effects are possible. This study found no significant adverse effects from 2 weeks of broccoli sprout extracts from either 100 μmol/d glucosinolates (principally glucoraphanin) or 25 μmol/d isothiocyanates (principally sulforaphane).

Shapiro, Theresa A., et al. "Safety, tolerance, and metabolism of broccoli sprout glucosinolates and isothiocyanates: a clinical phase I study." Nutrition and cancer 55.1 (2006): 53-62.

Broccoli and broccoli sprout concentrations can vary, but that high dose is equivalent to about 27 cups of broccoli, or a cup of broccoli sprouts. This study, however, found 10-30 μM concentrations of sulforaphane caused DNA strand breaks in vitro.

Sestili, Piero, et al. "Sulforaphane induces DNA single strand breaks in cultured human cells." Mutation Research/Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis 689.1 (2010): 65-73.

According to this video, to achieve those concentrations would require on the order of 100 cups of broccoli or 4 cups of broccoli sprouts.

Edited by Darryl, 21 November 2013 - 10:53 PM.

[ChristineH]

Darryl, it's practically impossible to achieve an intracellular concentration of 10 - 30 μM using any form of known oral dosing. An intracellular concentration of 2 μM is reasonably easy to obtain with an optimised sulforaphane-yielding product and is well below the threshold for toxicity in the cells reviewed. This is also below the level where epigenetic effects occur.

[.Moose.]

This is an old post but if any of the members are still interested in this topic, Sulforaphane is my research specialty area and I am happy to answer questions. Otherwise, search PubMed for my recent paper, "Sulforaphane: Translational Research from Lab Bench to Clinic". The paper addresses all the issues raised above and more.

 

Thank you for that, a very informative read.

 

If anybody else still follows this, there are supplements available that contain myrosinase, which seems to be the main prerequisite when choosing the product.

[aaCharley]

Eat a radish with the sprouts.  It supposedly only takes a little of the radish so even a few small slices might do the job.