Broccoli Sprout Dose Response: Bioavailability and Effects of Air Pollutants

This study will examine the extent to which lower doses of a broccoli-derived beverage enhance the detoxication of air pollutants excreted in urine as compared to an maximal dose shown to be effective previously.

This is a 10-day placebo control Phase II broccoli sprout intervention to be conducted in Qidong, P.R. China. Up to twelve hundred people from the farming townships will be screened and one hundred seventy eligible individuals will be enrolled in the study. Participants will be randomized into 4 treatment groups: one will receive a juice beverage containing a standard dose of glucoraphanin- and sulforaphane-rich broccoli sprout powder mixed in pineapple juice, lime juice and water, the second will receive one-half dose, the third one-fifth dose and the fourth group will receive placebo beverage containing pineapple juice, lime juice and water. Participants will drink their assigned beverage every evening and provide consecutive 12-hour urine collections throughout the duration of the study.

Beverage (100 mL) containing glucoraphanin-rich (600 micromole) and sulforaphane-rich (40 micromole) broccoli sprout powder mixed in pineapple juice, lime juice and water. Nightly for 10 days.

Beverage (100 mL) containing glucoraphanin-rich (300 micromole) and sulforaphane-rich (20 micromole) broccoli sprout powder mixed in pineapple juice, lime juice and water. Nightly for 10 days.

Beverage (100 mL) containing glucoraphanin-rich (120 micromole) and sulforaphane-rich (8 micromole) broccoli sprout powder mixed in pineapple juice, lime juice and water. Nightly for 10 days.

Urinary excretion of broccoli-derived sulforaphane metabolites: sulforaphane-mercapturic acid. The metabolites were measured all 20 of the sequential 12-hour urine collections from each participant over the 10-day intervention period. Data from each individual were summed to provide a single "per 24-hours" value for each participant.

Benzene-mercapturic acid (SPMA) excretion was measured in the sequential overnight 12-hour urine samples collected across the 10-day study period. Data from each individual were summed and averaged to provide a single "per 12-hours" value for each participant.

Inclusion Criteria: in good general health with no history of chronic illness normal liver function tests normal renal function tests Exclusion Criteria: personal history of cancer except for non-melanoma skin cancer use of prescribed medicines for women, a positive pregnancy test

Egner PA, Chen JG, Zarth AT, Ng DK, Wang JB, Kensler KH, Jacobson LP, Munoz A, Johnson JL, Groopman JD, Fahey JW, Talalay P, Zhu J, Chen TY, Qian GS, Carmella SG, Hecht SS, Kensler TW. Rapid and sustainable detoxication of airborne pollutants by broccoli sprout beverage: results of a randomized clinical trial in China. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2014 Aug;7(8):813-823. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-14-0103. Epub 2014 Jun 9.

Chen JG, Johnson J, Egner P, Ng D, Zhu J, Wang JB, Xue XF, Sun Y, Zhang YH, Lu LL, Chen YS, Wu Y, Zhu YR, Carmella S, Hecht S, Jacobson L, Munoz A, Kensler K, Rule A, Fahey J, Kensler T, Groopman J. Dose-dependent detoxication of the airborne pollutant benzene in a randomized trial of broccoli sprout beverage in Qidong, China. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Sep 1;110(3):675-684. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz122.