LONDON: Coffee and chocolate could form the basis of new drugs to treat cancer, heart disease and inflammation, British scientists said.

Scientists at University College London have found that caffeine and a related molecule called theophylline can block an enzyme which is crucial for cell growth.

This means modified forms of caffeine could one day be used to stop uncontrolled cell growth in cancer or prevent blood clots that cause heart attack and stroke.

“Alongside possible advances in cancer treatment, this research suggests that caffeine type drugs could be used to treat heart disease and inflammatory illnesses,” Professor Peter Shepherd and his colleagues said in a statement.

But the researchers said chocolate and coffee were not cures for cancer and warned people against overdosing on caffeine.

“The message to the general public is not to overdose on chocolate or coffee. Caffeine has well-known side effects that make it inappropriate for drug use,” Shepherd said.

The researchers used genetically engineered insect cells to produce an enzyme called p110 delta, which is crucial for cell growth. Their report in the Journal of Biological Chemistry said caffeine and theophylline blocked the enzyme’s function.

P110 delta is found mostly in white blood cells, so it could be particularly useful in treating cancers like leukaemia and for inhibiting white blood cells that cause inflammation, Shepherd said.

Theophylline has been used for years as an asthma drug, but nobody really knew how it worked, he said.

The enzyme is one of a group of molecules known as PI 3-kinases, which has become a focus of interest for major pharmaceutical companies.

“Many drug companies around the world are looking for inhibitors of these molecules at the moment,” said Shepherd. “This one was sitting there under their noses all the time.”

An Australian company called Kinacia has begun human studies with a molecule that blocks another enzyme in the PI 3-kinase family. It is hoping to develop anti-clotting medicines that lack the side effects of drugs like aspirin.

Dr Shaun Jackson, Kinacia’s founder and principal scientist, said the new findings would speed the development of PI 3-kinase blockers.

“What it tells us is that we can modify the structure of caffeine and come up with more potent inhibitors that could ultimately become new therapies. It’s exciting in that respect,” he said.

—Reuters