"Drink more hot water" The girlfriend and the scientist shook their heads when they heard it!

There was a popular vote abroad, what do you think is the most Chinese behavior? A high-voted answer that has been liked more than 400 times is: drink hot water

(Image credit: Quora)

How much do Chinese people like to drink hot water?

As the so-called "eight glasses of boiled water a day, not drinking is not Chinese"

Hot water, as if it is a unique symbol of the Chinese people, with its unique effect of "cure the disease and strengthen the body without disease", with a constant attitude to respond to changes, it ranks first in the cheapest health care products, which is more expensive than long pants.

(Image source: Internet)

But who would have thought that in the rapidly changing 21st century, the hot water, which is deeply loved by the Chinese people, has actually overturned!

A report published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in "Lancet Oncology" showed for the first time that hot drinks above 65°C may cause esophageal cancer or throat cancer, which is a class 2A carcinogen (meaning "probably carcinogenic to humans").

Subsequently, researchers from the American Cancer Society also found that drinking more than 700 ml (about 2 large glasses) of hot water with a temperature of more than 60 ° C a day increases the risk of esophageal cancer by 90%

Coincidentally, a study also led by the International Agency for Research on Cancer also found that compared with people whose food was moderately warm, chewed slowly, and used to eat hot and fast, the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma increased by nearly 100%.

(Image credit: Lancet Oncology)

Nani? The "hot water plot" deeply embedded in the Chinese people's bones can actually cause cancer! 1.

Recently, in a study published in the British Journal of Cancer, the team of Li Zhiyuan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed the mechanism by which heat stress promotes the occurrence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma for the first time, and proposed a heat activation temperature of 54°C

54°C is lower than the dietary temperature in the general population and also lower than the high temperature dietary risk temperature recommended by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (65°C)

(Image credit: BJC)

Based on years of research on transient receptor potential ion channels (TRP), the research team examined the expression and function of the thermosensitive transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor (TRPV) in human esophageal squamous epithelial cells

Unexpectedly, the thermosensitive transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor 2 (TRPV2) expression was significantly upregulated in both esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells and clinical ESCC samples compared with normal tissues

Expression of TRPV2 in ESCC cells and non-tumor cells (NE2)

The researchers were ecstatic about the discovery, and designed a series of experiments to test the conjecture

First, they briefly and frequently stimulated ESCC cells at a temperature (54°C) capable of activating TRPV2 channels in vitro and in vivo, respectively

Surprisingly, under heat stimulation in vitro, malignant cell behaviors such as proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis of ESCC cells were significantly enhanced; while heat stimulation in vivo significantly promoted subcutaneous tumorigenesis and tumor metastasis by tail vein injection in nude mice

 Schematic illustration of tumor cell invasion in vitro under heat stimulation (54°C)

Schematic illustration of ESCC cells invading lungs in vivo under heat stimulation (54°C)

So, is this high temperature-induced carcinogenesis really mediated by TRPV2?

In order to explore the role of TRPV2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the researchers further used TRPV2 antagonists or CRISPR-Cas9 method to knock out the TRPV2 gene in ESCC cells, and tested the tumorigenic effect of ESCC again

They were surprised to find that when TRPV2 was inhibited or not expressed, the malignant behaviors of ESCC cells, such as proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis, were significantly attenuated!

Conversely, after overexpression of TRPV2 in non-tumor cells, brief and frequent effects on cells with heat stimulation (54°C) or TRPV2 agonists also significantly promoted cell proliferation, made them invasive and developed subcutaneously in nude mice.

The effect of TRPV2 on ESCC migration (Image credit: BJC)

Thus, the "hub position" of TRPV2 in heat-stimulated carcinogenesis was established
.
The researchers further revealed the signaling pathway that activates TRPV2 to induce cancer, and found that its role was mainly regulated by the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway
.
When heat stimulation activates TRPV2, the PI3K pathway is also activated, and the functions of target proteins Akt1 and mTORC1 are upregulated through the downstream signaling protein PDK1
.

Heat stimulation is involved in the signaling pathway of TRPV2 in promoting esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (Image source: BJC)

At this point, the molecular mechanism of esophageal cancer caused by "drinking hot water" has been explained clearly.
It is believed that drugs for the prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer will eventually emerge as the times require
.

This study also reminds us once again that although "drinking hot water" and "eating hot rice" is good for health, we still need to be cautious about the temperature, and "blow" before eating, don't be too hasty and hurt your esophagus~