NSAC/Dal research collaboration cuts to the core

From the Dalhousie Magazine Fall 2011

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

You might think it’s simply a catchphrase, but for two Nova Scotia-based researchers, it’s the foundation for very promising work.

George Robertson of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine, and Vasantha Rupasinghe of the Nova Scotia Agricultural College’s Department of Environmental Sciences have developed a flavonoid-enriched formulation called AF4 from apple peelings.

AF4 has shown tremendous therapeutic benefits for mouse models of stroke and multiple sclerosis, and the researchers are now poised to take it to the next level.

“What we’re trying to do is develop AF4 as a natural health product,” explains Dr. Robertson, a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology and a scientist affiliated with the Brain Repair Centre.

They’ve decided the best way to test their concept involves cancer patients who are taking cisplatin, a powerful but toxic drug. Flavonoids have been shown to ease its side-effects (which often include kidney failure, hearing loss and balance disorders) and to increase cisplatin’s tumour-killing effects. Side effects often occur after just a few weeks of cisplatin treatment.

“We will be able to establish proof-of-concept for AF4 in the clinic very quickly,” says Dr. Robertson.

If the treatment not only reduces the adverse side-effects of cisplatin, but also enhances the anti-cancer activities of this commonly used drug, this highly innovative clinical trial will pave the way for the rapid approval of AF4 for the treatment of numerous diseases – from cancer to neurodegenerative disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.        

“We are poised now to actually move it into people. Our goal within the next year and a half is to raise sufficient funds through peer-reviewed grants and venture capital to be able to do these studies,” says Dr. Robertson.

He began working with Dr. Rupasinghe – the Canada Research Chair in Fruit Bioactives and BioProducts – eight years ago.

“I think this is a very unique collaboration because he brings considerable expertise in food chemistry and natural products, whereas as a pharmacologist having worked in both the academic and industrial sectors, I bring expertise in animal disease modeling and therapeutic development,” says Dr. Robertson. “It’s a nice hand-in-glove fit.”

Both scientists hope to establish a company to produce AF4 from millions of kilograms of unused peelings generated annually in Nova Scotia through juice, sauce and pie production.

Given that AF4 is derived from apples, they are optimistic that this natural product will be safe and, if proven effective in the clinic, a boon to both Nova Scotia’s agricultural industry and biotechnology sector.