Purna Mukherjee

Bio: Purna Mukherjee is an academic researcher from Boston College. The author has contributed to research in topics: Ketogenic diet & Brain tumor. The author has an hindex of 27, co-authored 41 publications receiving 2586 citations. Previous affiliations of Purna Mukherjee include Chestnut Hill College.

The calorically restricted ketogenic diet, an effective alternative therapy for malignant brain cancer

Abstract: Malignant brain cancer persists as a major disease of morbidity and mortality in adults and is the second leading cause of cancer death in children. Many current therapies for malignant brain tumors fail to provide long-term management because they ineffectively target tumor cells while negatively impacting the health and vitality of normal brain cells. In contrast to brain tumor cells, which lack metabolic flexibility and are largely dependent on glucose for growth and survival, normal brain cells can metabolize both glucose and ketone bodies for energy. This study evaluated the efficacy of KetoCal®, a new nutritionally balanced high fat/low carbohydrate ketogenic diet for children with epilepsy, on the growth and vascularity of a malignant mouse astrocytoma (CT-2A) and a human malignant glioma (U87-MG). Adult mice were implanted orthotopically with the malignant brain tumors and KetoCal® was administered to the mice in either unrestricted amounts or in restricted amounts to reduce total caloric intake according to the manufacturers recommendation for children with refractory epilepsy. The effects KetoCal® on tumor growth, vascularity, and mouse survival were compared with that of an unrestricted high carbohydrate standard diet. KetoCal® administered in restricted amounts significantly decreased the intracerebral growth of the CT-2A and U87-MG tumors by about 65% and 35%, respectively, and significantly enhanced health and survival relative to that of the control groups receiving the standard low fat/high carbohydrate diet. The restricted KetoCal® diet reduced plasma glucose levels while elevating plasma ketone body (β-hydroxybutyrate) levels. Tumor microvessel density was less in the calorically restricted KetoCal® groups than in the calorically unrestricted control groups. Moreover, gene expression for the mitochondrial enzymes, β-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase and succinyl-CoA: 3-ketoacid CoA transferase, was lower in the tumors than in the contralateral normal brain suggesting that these brain tumors have reduced ability to metabolize ketone bodies for energy. The results indicate that KetoCal® has anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic effects in experimental mouse and human brain tumors when administered in restricted amounts. The therapeutic effect of KetoCal® for brain cancer management was due largely to the reduction of total caloric content, which reduces circulating glucose required for rapid tumor growth. A dependency on glucose for energy together with defects in ketone body metabolism largely account for why the brain tumors grow minimally on either a ketogenic-restricted diet or on a standard-restricted diet. Genes for ketone body metabolism should be useful for screening brain tumors that could be targeted with calorically restricted high fat/low carbohydrate ketogenic diets. This preclinical study indicates that restricted KetoCal® is a safe and effective diet therapy and should be considered as an alternative therapeutic option for malignant brain cancer.

Role of glucose and ketone bodies in the metabolic control of experimental brain cancer.

Abstract: Brain tumours lack metabolic versatility and are dependent largely on glucose for energy. This contrasts with normal brain tissue that can derive energy from both glucose and ketone bodies. We examined for the first time the potential efficacy of dietary therapies that reduce plasma glucose and elevate ketone bodies in the CT-2A syngeneic malignant mouse astrocytoma. C57BL/6J mice were fed either a standard diet unrestricted (SD-UR), a ketogenic diet unrestricted (KD-UR), the SD restricted to 40% (SD-R), or the KD restricted to 40% of the control standard diet (KD-R). Body weights, tumour weights, plasma glucose, β-hydroxybutyrate (β-OHB), and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) were measured 13 days after tumour implantation. CT-2A growth was rapid in both the SD-UR and KD-UR groups, but was significantly reduced in both the SD-R and KD-R groups by about 80%. The results indicate that plasma glucose predicts CT-2A growth and that growth is dependent more on the amount than on the origin of dietary calories. Also, restriction of either diet significantly reduced the plasma levels of IGF-1, a biomarker for angiogenesis and tumour progression. Owing to a dependence on plasma glucose, IGF-1 was also predictive of CT-2A growth. Ketone bodies are proposed to reduce stromal inflammatory activities, while providing normal brain cells with a nonglycolytic high-energy substrate. Our results in a mouse astrocytoma suggest that malignant brain tumours are potentially manageable with dietary therapies that reduce glucose and elevate ketone bodies.

Metabolic management of glioblastoma multiforme using standard therapy together with a restricted ketogenic diet: Case Report

Abstract: Background: Management of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has been difficult using standard therapy (radiation with temozolomide chemotherapy). The ketogenic diet is used commonly to treat refractory epilepsy in children and, when administered in restricted amounts, can also target energy metabolism in brain tumors. We report the case of a 65-year-old woman who presented with progressive memory loss, chronic headaches, nausea, and a right hemisphere multi-centric tumor seen with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Following incomplete surgical resection, the patient was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme expressing hypermethylation of the MGMT gene promoter. Methods: Prior to initiation of the standard therapy, the patient conducted water-only therapeutic fasting and a restricted 4:1 (fat: carbohydrate + protein) ketogenic diet that delivered about 600 kcal/day. The patient also received the restricted ketogenic diet concomitantly during the standard treatment period. The diet was supplemented with vitamins and minerals. Steroid medication (dexamethasone) was removed during the course of the treatment. The patient was followed using MRI and positron emission tomography with fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG-PET). Results: After two months treatment, the patient's body weight was reduced by about 20% and no discernable brain tumor tissue was detected using either FDG-PET or MRI imaging. Biomarker changes showed reduced levels of blood glucose and elevated levels of urinary ketones. MRI evidence of tumor recurrence was found 10 weeks after suspension of strict diet therapy. Conclusion: This is the first report of confirmed GBM treated with standard therapy together with a restricted ketogenic diet. As rapid regression of GBM is rare in older patients following incomplete surgical resection and standard therapy alone, the response observed in this case could result in part from the action of the calorie restricted ketogenic diet. Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of restricted ketogenic diets, administered alone or together with standard treatment, as a therapy for GBM and possibly other malignant brain tumors.

Targeting energy metabolism in brain cancer: review and hypothesis

Abstract: Malignant brain tumors are a significant health problem in children and adults and are often unmanageable. As a metabolic disorder involving the dysregulation of glycolysis and respiration, malignant brain cancer is potentially manageable through changes in metabolic environment. A radically different approach to brain cancer management is proposed that combines metabolic control analysis with the evolutionarily conserved capacity of normal cells to survive extreme shifts in physiological environment. In contrast to malignant brain tumors that are largely dependent on glycolysis for energy, normal neurons and glia readily transition to ketone bodies (β-hydroxybutyrate) for energy in vivo when glucose levels are reduced. The bioenergetic transition from glucose to ketone bodies metabolically targets brain tumors through integrated anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and pro-apoptotic mechanisms. The approach focuses more on the genomic flexibility of normal cells than on the genomic defects of tumor cells and is supported from recent studies in orthotopic mouse brain tumor models and in human pediatric astrocytoma treated with dietary energy restriction and the ketogenic diet.

Dietary restriction reduces angiogenesis and growth in an orthotopic mouse brain tumour model.

Abstract: Diet and lifestyle produce major effects on tumour incidence, prevalence, and natural history. Moderate dietary restriction has long been recognised as a natural therapy that improves health, promotes longevity, and reduces both the incidence and growth of many tumour types. Dietary restriction differs from fasting or starvation by reducing total food and caloric intake without causing nutritional deficiencies. No prior studies have evaluated the responsiveness of malignant brain cancer to dietary restriction. We found that a moderate dietary restriction of 30-40% significantly inhibited the intracerebral growth of the CT-2A syngeneic malignant mouse astrocytoma by almost 80%. The total dietary intake for the ad libitum control group (n=9) and the dietary restriction experimental group (n=10) was about 20 and 13 Kcal x day(-1), respectively. Overall health and vitality was better in the dietary restriction-fed mice than in the ad libitum-fed mice. Tumour microvessel density (Factor VIII immunostaining) was two-fold less in the dietary restriction mice than in the ad libitum mice, whereas the tumour apoptotic index (TUNEL assay) was three-fold greater in the dietary restriction mice than in the ad libitum mice. CT-2A tumour cell-induced vascularity was also less in the dietary restriction mice than in the ad libitum mice in the in vivo Matrigel plug assay. These findings indicate that dietary restriction inhibited CT-2A growth by reducing angiogenesis and by enhancing apoptosis. Dietary restriction may shift the tumour microenvironment from a proangiogenic to an antiangiogenic state through multiple effects on the tumour cells and the tumour-associated host cells. Our data suggest that moderate dietary restriction may be an effective antiangiogenic therapy for recurrent malignant brain cancers.

Patterns of Somatic Mutation in Human Cancer Genomes

Abstract: AACR Centennial Conference: Translational Cancer Medicine-- Nov 4-8, 2007; Singapore PL02-05 All cancers are due to abnormalities in DNA. The availability of the human genome sequence has led to the proposal that resequencing of cancer genomes will reveal the full complement of somatic mutations and hence all the cancer genes. To explore the nature of the information that will be derived from cancer genome sequencing we have sequenced the coding exons of the family of 518 protein kinases, ~1.3Mb DNA per cancer sample, in 210 cancers of diverse histological types. Despite the screen being directed toward the coding regions of a gene family that has previously been strongly implicated in oncogenesis, the results indicate that the majority of somatic mutations detected are “passengers”. There is considerable variation in the number and pattern of these mutations between individual cancers, indicating substantial diversity of processes of molecular evolution between cancers. The imprints of exogenous mutagenic exposures, mutagenic treatment regimes and DNA repair defects can all be seen in the distinctive mutational signatures of individual cancers. This systematic mutation screen and others have previously yielded a number of cancer genes that are frequently mutated in one or more cancer types and which are now anticancer drug targets (for example BRAF , PIK3CA , and EGFR ). However, detailed analyses of the data from our screen additionally suggest that there exist a large number of additional “driver” mutations which are distributed across a substantial number of genes. It therefore appears that cells may be able to utilise mutations in a large repertoire of potential cancer genes to acquire the neoplastic phenotype. However, many of these genes are employed only infrequently. These findings may have implications for future anticancer drug development.

The somatic genomic landscape of glioblastoma

Abstract: We describe the landscape of somatic genomic alterations based on multidimensional and comprehensive characterization of more than 500 glioblastoma tumors (GBMs). We identify several novel mutated genes as well as complex rearrangements of signature receptors, including EGFR and PDGFRA. TERT promoter mutations are shown to correlate with elevated mRNA expression, supporting a role in telomerase reactivation. Correlative analyses confirm that the survival advantage of the proneural subtype is conferred by the G-CIMP phenotype, and MGMT DNA methylation may be a predictive biomarker for treatment response only in classical subtype GBM. Integrative analysis of genomic and proteomic profiles challenges the notion of therapeutic inhibition of a pathway as an alternative to inhibition of the target itself. These data will facilitate the discovery of therapeutic and diagnostic target candidates, the validation of research and clinical observations and the generation of unanticipated hypotheses that can advance our molecular understanding of this lethal cancer.

Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer : a Global Perspective : 食物、栄養、身体活動とがんの予防 : 世界的展望(後篇)

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Influence of diet on the gut microbiome and implications for human health.

Abstract: Recent studies have suggested that the intestinal microbiome plays an important role in modulating risk of several chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. At the same time, it is now understood that diet plays a significant role in shaping the microbiome, with experiments showing that dietary alterations can induce large, temporary microbial shifts within 24 h. Given this association, there may be significant therapeutic utility in altering microbial composition through diet. This review systematically evaluates current data regarding the effects of several common dietary components on intestinal microbiota. We show that consumption of particular types of food produces predictable shifts in existing host bacterial genera. Furthermore, the identity of these bacteria affects host immune and metabolic parameters, with broad implications for human health. Familiarity with these associations will be of tremendous use to the practitioner as well as the patient.