Dietary restriction reduces angiogenesis and growth in an orthotopic mouse brain tumour model

Diet and lifestyle produce major effects on tumour incidence, prevalence, and natural history. Moderate dietary restriction has long been recognised as a natural therapy that improves health, promotes longevity, and reduces both the incidence and growth of many tumour types. Dietary restriction differs from fasting or starvation by reducing total food and caloric intake without causing nutritional deficiencies. No prior studies have evaluated the responsiveness of malignant brain cancer to dietary restriction. We found that a moderate dietary restriction of 30–40% significantly inhibited the intracerebral growth of the CT-2A syngeneic malignant mouse astrocytoma by almost 80%. The total dietary intake for the ad libitum control group (n=9) and the dietary restriction experimental group (n=10) was about 20 and 13 Kcal day−1, respectively. Overall health and vitality was better in the dietary restriction-fed mice than in the ad libitum-fed mice. Tumour microvessel density (Factor VIII immunostaining) was two-fold less in the dietary restriction mice than in the ad libitum mice, whereas the tumour apoptotic index (TUNEL assay) was three-fold greater in the dietary restriction mice than in the ad libitum mice. CT-2A tumour cell-induced vascularity was also less in the dietary restriction mice than in the ad libitum mice in the in vivo Matrigel plug assay. These findings indicate that dietary restriction inhibited CT-2A growth by reducing angiogenesis and by enhancing apoptosis. Dietary restriction may shift the tumour microenvironment from a proangiogenic to an antiangiogenic state through multiple effects on the tumour cells and the tumour-associated host cells. Our data suggest that moderate dietary restriction may be an effective antiangiogenic therapy for recurrent malignant brain cancers

Power and Politics in Marine Spatial Planning

There is growing concern that MSP is not facilitating a paradigm shift towards democratic marine management and that it may simply repackage old power dynamics in the rhetoric of participation. MSP has been advanced using the logic of 'rationality' and 'post-political' forms of planning that emphasise consensus and managerial-technological apparatuses for the governance of socio-political natural spaces. MSP has been described as the rational organization of the use of marine space. Rationality is, however, context dependent and the context of rationality is power. MSP processes are, therefore, arenas where specific and multiple instances of power manifests itself. MSP is also an inherently political (sensu Mouffee, 2005) process. Rather than acknowledging debate and dissensus, MSP is advanced as a neutral, participatory process that can develop win-win outcomes. The result is a choreographed form of governance and participation, with clearly defined roles, processes and acceptable outcomes, which renders invisible the politics of disagreement and legitimises the agendas of dominant actors. This chapter argues that to recapture its democratising potential, MSP requires explicit engagement with power and politics. Document type: Part of book or chapter of boo