Caffeine-Gold compound could fight cancer

We all know about the side-effects of ingesting too much caffeine – we’ve all probably experienced them at some point in our life: restlessness, increased heart-rate and having trouble sleeping – and then there is the caffeine crash to contend with as well.

But, on the other hand, coffee has been the focal point of so many fantastic news stories lately as scientists poke and prod around to discover that, in moderation of course, coffee contains a whole host of positive components: it can reduce the risk of diabetes, it’s packed with antioxidants and it can help boost memory to name but three.

Caffeine, the compound that gives coffee its energy-boosting effect, also has medicinal qualities. Especially when paired with gold.

Yes, gold.

According to a research report published in the ACS journal Inorganic Chemistry, combining a caffeine-based compound with gold could, one day, be used as a tool in the fight against cancer

With recent research highlighting the ability of caffeine to kill cancerous cells used as a base, a group of scientists aimed to find a solution that did not involve people drinking gallons of coffee or taking large quantities of caffeine pills.

Angela Casini, Michel Picquet and colleagues decided to work on creating a new compound and used gold, an element that has been proven to wipe out cancer cells.

The research team made a number of variations of this caffeine-and-gold hybrid to see if any of the configurations would selectively stop cancerous areas without harming any other, healthy, cells.

In total, seven new compounds, called caffeine-based gold (I) N-heterocyclic carbenes, were created and studied. The scientists found that, at certain concentrations, one of seven selectively killed human ovarian cancer cells.

Additionally, the compound targeted a type of DNA architecture, called “G-quadruplex,” that is associated with cancer.