Chemopreventive effects of black tea polyphenols in mouse skin model of carcinogenesis

In the present investigations, the antitumorigenic effect of black tea polyphenols (BTP) in two-stage mouse skin model of carcinogenesis was studied. The animals were initiated with a single "subcarcinogenic" topical dose (52 micrograms/200 microliters acetone) of 7, 12-dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA). To evaluate the anti-tumour initiating activity, BTP was topically applied twice a week for three weeks prior to DMBA application, followed by topical treatment with 12-o-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) (5 micrograms/200 microliters acetone, 2x/wk.) as promoter. For evaluation of antitumor promoting activity, BTP was applied prior to each treatment of TPA. BTP application showed marked inhibitory effect as antitumour initiator as well as antitumour promoter in mouse skin model of two-stage carcinogenesis. Since initiation involves genetic pathway and tumour promotion involves epigenetic pathway, it seems that BTP exerts its antitumorigenic effect by altering both genetic and epigenetic pathways.