Abstract LB-249: Coffee drinking decreases background DNA strand breaks in humans: A randomized controlled trial

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA Effects of coffee consumption on the level of spontaneous DNA strand breaks in peripheral white blood cells have not been reported yet. In this human intervention study the impact of consuming a dark roast coffee blend on the level of spontaneous DNA strand breaks was investigated. Healthy men (n=84) were randomized to consume daily for 4 weeks either 750 ml of fresh coffee brew or 750 ml of water, subsequent to a run in washout phase of 4 weeks. The study coffee was a blend providing substantial amounts of both, caffeoylquinic acids and the roast product N-methylpyridinium. Before and after the coffee/water phases, spontaneous strand breaks were determined by Comet assay. Both groups exhibited a similar level of spontaneous DNA strand breaks at baseline.In the intervention phase spontaneous ( background) DNA strand breaks slightly increased in the water only group, whereas they significantly decreased in the coffee group,leading to a 27 percent difference between both arms (p=0.0002). Food frequency questionnaires indicated no differences in the overall diet between groups, mean body weight during the intervention phases remaining stable. Consumption of the study coffee was found associated with a markedly lower level of pontaneous DNA strand breaks in white blood cells. Conclusion: Regular coffee consumption contributes to DNA integrity. Citation Format: Gerhard Eisenbrand, Tamara Bakuradze, Roman Lang, Thomas Hofmann, Dorothea Schipp, Jens Galan, Elke Richling. Coffee drinking decreases background DNA strand breaks in humans: A randomized controlled trial. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-249. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-LB-249