A new dietary model to study colorectal carcinogenesis: experimental design, food preparation, and experimental findings

Diet and Cancer Prevention Research: From Mechanism to Implementation

Between 30% to 50% of cancer cases are estimated to be preventable through reduced exposure to tobacco, occupational carcinogens, and infectious agents, and adoption of lifelong healthy eating and a physically active lifestyle. In the past, diet and cancer prevention research has aimed to understand the effects of specific foods and nutrients on cancer-related mechanisms. More recently, there has been a shift in emphasis toward a more holistic focus on patterns of diet, reflecting the goal to understand the impact of adhering to broader public health recommendations. It is increasingly apparent from observational studies that different patterns of diet and physical activity are manifest in a metabolic state that is more, or less, conducive to the acquisition of genetic and epigenetic alterations leading to carcinogenesis. Experimental studies in cell systems, animals and humans have expanded our understanding of the many mechanisms by which specific dietary constituents may modulate inflammation and immune function, carcinogen metabolism, hormone and growth-factor regulation, DNA repair capacity, cell-cycle control, and proliferation and apoptosis. However, few mechanistic studies in animal models have evaluated diets containing the complex mixtures that make up human diets. Overall, more studies are needed across the continuum of prevention research, from basic mechanistic research on the effects of diet patterns on fundamental biologic processes to studies testing the efficacy of implementing lifestyle-directed cancer prevention strategies.

Effect of low or high glycemic load diets on experimentally induced mammary carcinogenesis in rats

SCOPE

High glycemic load diets have been associated with increased breast cancer risk in population-based studies, but the evidence is mixed. This investigation determined whether diets differing in glycemic load affected the carcinogenic process using a preclinical model.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Human diets, formulated to differ 2-fold in glycemic load, were evaluated in the 1-methyl-nitrosourea-induced (37.5 mg/kg) mammary carcinogenesis model. Cancer incidence (23.3 versus 50.0%, p = 0.032), multiplicity, (0.40 versus 1.03, p = 0.030) and burden, (0.62 versus 1.19 g/rat, p = 0.037) were reduced in the low versus high glycemic load diets, respectively. However, the low glycemic protective effect was attenuated when two purified diets that differed in resistant starch and simulated the glycemic effects of the human diets were fed. Protection was associated with alterations in markers of cell growth regulation.

CONCLUSION

Our findings show that human low or high glycemic load dietary patterns differentially affect the carcinogenic response in a nondiabetic rodent model for breast cancer. However, factors that are associated with these patterns, in addition to dietary carbohydrate availability, appear to account for the differences observed.

Rectal epithelial proliferation in persons with or without a history of adenoma and its association with diet and lifestyle habits

BACKGROUND

Rectal epithelial proliferation (REP) measurements are used as a biomarker of risk for colorectal neoplasia and response to chemoprevention. The authors evaluated REP in screenees with and without a history of adenoma and its association with demographic and adenoma characteristics, diet, and other lifestyle habits.

METHODS

Long term lifestyle habits were evaluated and proliferation assessed by in vitro bromodeoxyuridine labeling of rectal biopsies in 223 screenees, 132 of whom had adenomas removed > 3 years previously. Analyses included the total population, screenees with a previous history of adenomas and adenoma free screenees separately, and a subgroup of 55 matched adenoma cases and controls.

RESULTS

Crypt proliferation measurements were not elevated in screenees with a history of adenomas compared with adenoma free screenees (mean total labeling index [LI] of 4.8% and 4.9%, respectively). This was confirmed by the case-control analysis, in which the LI of the most superficial crypt compartment was lower in the adenoma cases (P=0.05). Moreover, their total LI correlated negatively with the number of adenomas removed previously (P < 0.01). Proliferation was more frequent in the most superficial crypt compartments of female adenoma free screenees than in female screenees with a history of adenomas (P=0.02), and in men age > 65 years compared with younger men (P=0.06). In the total population, negative Spearman rank correlations were found between total LI and long term dietary intake of calcium (correlation coefficient [r]=-0.15; P=0.02), LI of the two most superficial crypt compartments and intake of fiber (r=-0.18; P=0.01), water (r=-0.12; P=0.08), and carbohydrates (not significant). A positive correlation was found between LI of the most superficial crypt compartment and cigarette smoking (r=0.4; P=0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

REP measurements did not discriminate between screenees with a history of adenomas and adenoma free screenees. Long-term lifestyle habits, gender, and age were associated with REP levels and need to be considered when evaluating human intervention studies.

Interaction of dietary fat with a vegetables-fruit mixture on 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced colorectal cancer in rats

The aim of the present investigation was to study the interaction of dietary fat in combination with a vegetables-fruit mixture on 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced colorectal carcinogenesis in rats. For this purpose, 120 weanling male. Wistar rats received a semisynthetic diet without (Groups A and C) or with a vegetables-fruit mixture (Groups B and D; vegetables and fruit content 19.5% wt/wt) for 35 weeks. Diets of Groups A and B contained 20 energy percent (20e%) fat, whereas diets of Groups C and D contained 40e% fat. The vegetables and fruit used the amount of fat, and its fatty acid composition were chosen according to the mean consumption values of The Netherlands. After the animals were maintained for four weeks on the respective diets, they were given 10 weekly injections of DMH at 50 mg/kg body wt sc. After sacrifice, their colons were removed and examined macroscopically and microscopically for the presence of tumors. Rats fed high-fat diets developed significantly more tumors than rats fed low-fat diets. Furthermore, although not statistically significant, a lower number of colorectal tumors was observed in rats fed a low- or a high-fat diet containing the vegetables-fruit mixture than in rats fed diets without the vegetables-fruit mixture. No differences were observed in intestinal tumor incidences among all groups. The results suggest that the vegetables-fruit mixture used in this experiment, present in an amount comparable with the mean consumption in The Netherlands, has no significant inhibitory effect on the development of colorectal tumors induced by DMH in rats maintained on diets low or high in fat.

Differing proliferative responses in proximal and distal colons of growing rats fed food eaten by adenoma patients

Animal dietary studies related to human colorectal carcinogenesis are usually based on AIN-76A diet, which is dissimilar to human food in source, preparation, and content. Our aim was to examine colonic epithelial proliferation in rats fed a diet based on the mean daily food intake of adenoma patients. Foods were prepared as reported by the adenoma patients and dehydrated; 64 Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either "human adenoma" or AIN-76A diet and every eight weeks, eight from each group were sacrificed. Both groups gained weight equally, had no colonic histological changes, but during the study showed progressive lengthening of colonic crypts (P < 0.01) and decreased proliferation (P < 0.05) in distal colons. Compared to controls, rats fed human adenoma diet had significantly longer crypts (P < 0.01) and more labeled cells (P < 0.05) at 32 weeks; overall they had increased proliferation (P < 0.01), most significantly in the distal colon. Thus, food eaten by adenoma patients induced hyperproliferative changes in the rat colon during growth and maturity, especially the distal colon, as found in humans at risk for neoplasia.