Noni juice improves serum lipid profiles and other risk markers in cigarette smokers.

Cigarette smoke-induced oxidative stress leads to dyslipidemia and systemic inflammation. Morinda citrifolia (noni) fruit juice has been found previously to have a significant antioxidant activity. One hundred thirty-two adult heavy smokers completed a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial designed to investigate the effect of noni juice on serum cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and homocysteine. Volunteers drank noni juice or a fruit juice placebo daily for one month. Drinking 29.5 mL to 188 mL of noni juice per day significantly reduced cholesterol levels, triglycerides, and hs-CRP. Decreases in LDL and homocysteine, as well increases in HDL, were also observed among noni juice drinkers. The placebo, which was devoid of iridoid glycosides, did not significantly influence blood lipid profiles or hs-CRP. Noni juice was able to mitigate cigarette smoke-induced dyslipidemia, an activity associated with the presence of iridoids.

Morinda citrifolia (noni) reduces cancer risk in current smokers by decreasing aromatic DNA adducts.

Quantitative determination of aromatic DNA adducts in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) of current smokers is an useful surrogate biomarker for the evaluation of environmental carcinogen exposure or chemopreventive intervention. In this study, we examined the impact of Tahitian Noni Juice (TNJ) on the aromatic DNA adducts of PBLs, before and after a 1-mo intervention, using (32)P postlabeling assay. Of 283 enrolled, 203 smokers completed the trial. Aromatic DNA adducts levels in all participants were significantly reduced by 44.9% (P < 0.001) after drinking 1 to 4 oz of TNJ for 1 mo. Dose-dependent analyses of aromatic DNA adduct levels showed reductions of 49.7% (P < 0.001) in the 1-oz TNJ group and 37.6% (P < 0.001) in the 4-oz TNJ group. Gender-specific analyses resulted in no significant differences in the 4-oz TNJ groups. Interestingly, the 1-oz TNJ group showed a reduction of 43.1% (P < 0.001) in females compared with 56.1% (P < 0.001) in males. The results suggest that drinking 1 to 4 oz of TNJ daily may reduce the cancer risk in heavy cigarette smokers by blocking carcinogen-DNA binding or excising DNA adducts from genomic DNA.