I've been reading about the dual roles of the NRF2 pathway - on the one hand it's great for cancer prevention in that it mobilises the cell's antioxidant defences, but it also seems to have a dark-side for cancer patients. NRF2 seems to be implicated in the development of chemo-resistance and helps to defend cancer cells from the effect of anti-cancer agents. As NRF2 is upregulated by things like sulforaphane, curcumin, resveratrol etc, this is a major worry. The question is how can you down-regulate NRF2? Surfing around pubmed shows that all-trans retinoic acid does the trick - as this is a metabolite of retinol (vitamin A). So, can taking vitamin A tablets downregulate NRF2, and would doing this stop the other positive effects of curcumin and resveratrol?
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated...
Pan
