Adding caffeine in sunscreens can more reliably protect against skin cancer. The discovery has been made by the scientists from Rutgers University in the U.S.
The studies have shown that caffeine has a chemical that, when applied to the skin, absorbs ultraviolet radiation and prevents tumor development.
The experiment was conducted on mice. There have been used genetically modified rodents with artificially reduced activity of the ATR enzyme. This substance normally protects the damaged cells, which can later become cancerous, from the sun. Caffeine inhibits the action of the ATR enzyme. Thus, the researchers have recreated the influence of caffeine on mice.
After that, the rodents were exposed to ultraviolet radiation. It turned out that tumors developed three weeks later in the case of the mice with the depressed ATR enzyme if to compare them with normal rodents. During the 19th week of the experiment, genetically modified mice had 69% fewer tumors than non-modified ones.
Source of the image: Photl.
