Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is a key enzyme that participate in purine and DNA metabolism and one of the central mechanism of free oxygen radical (FOR) formation. Studies have indicated that, one of the cancer-preventing properties of avocado occurs mainly by FOR production. Our aim in this study is to investigate possible potential effects of the aqueous extract of Avocado leaf on the activity level of ADA in cancerous and non-cancerous tissues of larynx for elucidation of the molecular mechanism.

METHODS

The ADA activities of the larynx carcinoma tissues of thirteen patients were compared with the adjacent tumor-free control tissues with and without Avocado leaf extract were evaluated in terms of difference.

RESULTS

The ADA activities were significantly increased in cancerous tissues compared with the noncancerous control tissues (p<0.001). The extract of avocado leaf increased the ADA activities in cancerous tissues (r=0.93, p <0.001) more than noncancerous (r=0.60, p=0.029) tissues significantly.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Our results can be explained as elevated ADA enzyme activity is a compensatory mechanism against toxic accumulation of its substrates (adenosine and deoxyadenosine) and Avocado activates ADA actitvity in cancerous tissues higher than non-cancerous tissues of larynx.