(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-26 10:23

The highest doses of the extract reduced UV-induced redness and inflammation (erythema) by an average of 37 percent, although protection varied from 8 percent to 78 percent.

"If you apply an extract of broccoli sprouts that contains high levels of sulforaphane to regions of human skin, you can protect them very substantially," Talalay said. "We believe, to the best of our knowledge, that this is the first demonstration of protection against a known human carcinogen in humans."

One expert was excited by the discovery.

"There is some interesting data here," said Dr. Vijay Trisal, an assistant professor of surgical oncology at the City of Hope Cancer Center, in Duarte, Calif. "Sulforaphane compounds have been known to boost the immune system locally. This has some basic science behind it."

"The same thing happens with interferon, which we use for melanoma. It boosts the natural killer cells," Trisal explained.

The findings do need to be replicated, Talalay noted.

"It's going to take a little while to work out how this should be applied," Talalay said. "We would need to have a preparation rich in sulforaphane that would be easily absorbed through the skin, and this is not yet a reality. But, since we're dealing with a food, we're not dealing with anything likely to have a toxicity."

The study is published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Talalay and a co-author are unpaid consultants to Brassica Protection Products LLC (BPP), which licenses the technology to produce broccoli sprouts. These two authors, along with Johns Hopkins University, are equity owners in BPP. Antony Talalay, son of Paul Talalay, is chief executive officer of BPP.

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