Supplementation with phytoestrogens and insoluble fibers reduces intestinal carcinogenesis and restores ER-β expression in Apc-driven colorectal carcinogenesis.

Supplementation with phytoestrogens and insoluble fibers has been reported to reduce duodenal polyps in colectomized familial adenomatous polyposis patients, with a mechanism involving, at least in part, upregulation of estrogen receptor-β subtype, whose expression is lowered during intestinal tumorigenesis. These data suggest a protective effect also in the colon, the main target organ for tumorigenesis in familial adenomatous polyposis and a major cancer type in non-familial (sporadic) cancers. Therefore, we tested whether a similar preparation might reduce tumorigenesis in the colon of Pirc rats (F344/NTac-Apc) mutated in the Apc gene and thus, like familial adenomatous polyposis patients, spontaneously developing multiple tumors in the colon.

High Sensitivity to Cholic Acid-induced Colonic Tumorigenesis Makes Female PIRC Rats (F344/NTac-Apc) a Suitable Model for Studying CRC-promoting Agents.

Background/aim: Rats of the adenomatous polyposis coli (Apc)-mutated female polyposis in rat (PIRC) (F344/NTac-Apc) model exhibit a low level of intestinal tumorigenesis and are thus potentially exploitable as a model for identifying substances increasing colorectal cancer (CRC).

Materials And Methods: To test this possibility, we treated such rats with the bile acid (BA) cholic acid (CA) (0.3% w/w in the diet), known to promote CRC, and assessed tumorigenesis.

A flavonoid-rich extract from bergamot juice prevents carcinogenesis in a genetic model of colorectal cancer, the Pirc rat (F344/NTac-Apc).

Purpose: To determine the potential of a flavonoid-rich extract from bergamot juice (BJe) to prevent colorectal carcinogenesis (CRC) in vivo.

Main Methods: Pirc rats (F344/NTac-Apc), mutated in Apc, the key gene in CRC, were treated with two different doses of BJe (35 mg/kg or 70 mg/kg body weight, respectively) mixed in the diet for 12 weeks. Then, the entire intestine was surgically removed and dissected for histological, immunohistochemical and molecular analyses.

Morin-dependent inhibition of low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMW-PTP) restores sensitivity to apoptosis during colon carcinogenesis: Studies in vitro and in vivo, in an Apc-driven model of colon cancer.

LMW-PTP has been associated with the development of colorectal cancer (CRC) and with the resistance to chemotherapy in cancer cells. To clarify its role in vivo, we studied LMW-PTP expression in Pirc rats (F344/NTac-Apc ), genetically prone to CRC and resistant to apoptosis. In the morphologically normal mucosa (NM) of Pirc rats, a dramatic over-expression of LMW-PTP was found compared to wt rats (about 60 times higher).

Aging related changes in circulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) and protein carbonyls are indicative of liver oxidative injury.

Oxidative stress, defined as an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant defense mechanisms, plays a major role in inducing oxidative damage and cellular impairment, resulting in a general decline of the physiological functions. The aim of this work was to evaluate age-related changes in circulating ROS levels and plasma protein carbonyls, in very young (2 months aged), young (8 months aged) and in middle age (15 months aged) F344 rats. In addition, the DNA oxidative marker 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and the expression of the DNA repair enzymes and genes were also measured in the liver of these animals.

Pomegranate By-Products in Colorectal Cancer Chemoprevention: Effects in Apc-Mutated Pirc Rats and Mechanistic Studies In Vitro and Ex Vivo.

Scope: To investigate the effect of pomegranate mesocarp, a polyphenol-rich by-product of juice production, in colorectal cancer (CRC) chemoprevention.

Methods And Results: A mesocarp decoction (PMD) is administered for 6 weeks in the diet to Pirc rats, mutated in Apc, a key-gene in CRC. Mucin-depleted foci (MDFs), as CRC biomarkers, are reduced in PMD-fed rats compared to controls (MDF/colon: 34 ± 4 versus 47 ± 3, p = 0.

Astragali radix: could it be an adjuvant for oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy?

Neurotoxicity is a major side effect of platinum derivatives both during and after treatment. In the absence of effective pharmacological compounds, the opportunity to identify safe adjuvant treatments among medicinal plants seems appropriate. Astragali radix is an adaptogenic herbal product recently analyzed in platinum-treated cancer patients.

Gene Expression Profile of Colon Mucosa after Cytotoxic Insult in wt and -Mutated Pirc Rats: Possible Relation to Resistance to Apoptosis during Carcinogenesis.

-mutated Pirc rats, spontaneously developing intestinal tumours, are resistant to 1,2-dimethylhydrazine- (DMH-) induced colon apoptosis. To understand this phenomenon, we analyzed the expression of genotoxic stress-related genes , , and in the colon of wt and Pirc rats in basal conditions and 24 h after DMH; plasmatic oxidant/antioxidant status was also evaluated. After DMH, expression was increased in both genotypes but significantly only in wt rats; expression was significantly increased in both genotypes.

Effect of butyrate enemas on gene expression profiles and endoscopic/histopathological scores of diverted colorectal mucosa: A randomized trial.

Background: A temporary stoma is often created to protect a distal anastomosis in colorectal surgery. Short-chain fatty acids, mainly butyrate, are the major fuel source for the epithelium and their absence in the diverted tract may produce mucosal atrophy and inflammation.

Aims: To investigate whether the administration of sodium butyrate enemas (Naburen(©), Promefarm, Italy) could prevent mucosal inflammation and atrophy and affect gene expression profiles after ileo/colostomy.

Sulindac, 3,3'-diindolylmethane and curcumin reduce carcinogenesis in the Pirc rat, an Apc-driven model of colon carcinogenesis.

Background: Recently, we showed that Sulindac (SU; 320 ppm) reduces precancerous lesions in the colon of Pirc rats, mutated in the Apc gene. Surprisingly, previous data in Apc-mutated mice showed that SU, with reported efficacy in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP), increases colon carcinogenesis. Therefore, we assessed the effect of SU 320 ppm in a long-term carcinogenesis experiment in Pirc rats.

Apc-driven colon carcinogenesis in Pirc rat is strongly reduced by polyethylene glycol.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is one of the most powerful agents in reducing chemically induced carcinogenesis in rat colon. However, contrasting results in Min mice dampened the enthusiasm on this potentially strong and virtually safe, cancer chemopreventing agent. Pirc (F344/NTac-Apc (am1137) ) rats carrying a germline heterozygous mutation in the Apc gene, spontaneously develop multiple tumours in the colon thus modelling both familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC).

Multiple mucin depleted foci, high proliferation and low apoptotic response in the onset of colon carcinogenesis of the PIRC rat, mutated in Apc.

PIRC rats (F344/NTac-Apc (am1137) ) mutated in the Apc gene spontaneously develop colon tumors thus mimicking familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC) more closely than Apc-based rodent models developing tumors mostly in the small intestine. To understand whether microscopic dysplastic lesions precede the development of macroscopic tumors, PIRC rat colon was examined for the presence of mucin depleted foci (MDF), microadenomas of the rodent and human colon. Few MDF (about 4/animal) were already present in 1-month-old rats and their number rapidly increases to about 250 in 8-month-old rats.

Long-term treatment with Sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, reduces colon carcinogenesis and reactive oxygen species in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced rats.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and insulin resistance (IR) increase colon cancer risk. Antidiabetic drugs stabilizing incretin hormones, such as inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 activity (DPP4i), may affect colon carcinogenesis; however, the data remain controversial. Therefore, the authors studied whether long-term administration of the DPP4i Sitagliptin (SITA) affects 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced colon carcinogenesis.

Expression of LGR-5, MSI-1 and DCAMKL-1, putative stem cell markers, in the early phases of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced rat colon carcinogenesis: correlation with nuclear β-catenin.

Background: Colon cancer stem cells may drive carcinogenesis and account for chemotherapeutic failure. Although many markers for these cells have been proposed, there is no complete agreement regarding them, nor has their presence in the early phases of carcinogenesis been characterized in depth.

Methods: The expression of the putative markers LGR-5 (leucine-rich-repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5), MSI-1 (Musashi-1) and DCAMKL-1 (doublecortin and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase-like-1) was studied in normal colon mucosa (NM), in the precancerous lesions Mucin Depleted Foci (MDF) and in macroscopic tumours (adenomas) of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-treated rats.

Marie Ménard apples with high polyphenol content and a low-fat diet reduce 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced colon carcinogenesis in rats: effects on inflammation and apoptosis.

Inflammation may increase cancer risk, therefore, we studied whether polyphenol-rich Marie Ménard (MM) apples with reported anti-inflammatory activity prevent 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced colon carcinogenesis in rats and, likewise whether high-fat (HF) diet promoting carcinogenesis, may affect inflammation. DMH-induced rats were fed for 15 weeks with: an HF diet (23% corn oil w/w); an HF diet containing 7.6% w/w lyophilized MM (apple diet (AD)); a low-fat (LF) diet and an HF diet containing piroxicam (PXC) (0.

Mucin depleted foci, colonic preneoplastic lesions lacking Muc2, show up-regulation of Tlr2 but not bacterial infiltration.

Mucin depleted foci (MDF) are precancerous lesions of the colon in carcinogen-treated rodents and humans at high risk. Since MDF show signs of inflammation we hypothesized that the defective mucous production would expose them to the risk of being penetrated by intestinal bacteria, which can be sensed by Toll-like receptors (Tlrs) and activate inflammatory pathways. To verify this hypothesis we tested the expression of 84 genes coding for Tlrs and associated pathways using RT-qPCR in MDF (n = 7) from 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-treated rats.

Sustained proliferation and resistance to apoptosis after a cytotoxic insult are early alterations in rat colon carcinogenesis.

To study the early alterations in carcinogenesis, we determined apoptosis and proliferation in rat mucin depleted foci (MDF), precancerous lesions in the colon under basal conditions and 24 h after treatment with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH), which induces apoptosis in the colon. Spontaneous apoptosis in MDF was higher than in normal mucosa (Apoptotic Index was 1.61 ± 0.

Gene expression profile and genomic alterations in colonic tumours induced by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) in rats.

Background: Azoxymethane (AOM) or 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced colon carcinogenesis in rats shares many phenotypical similarities with human sporadic colon cancer and is a reliable model for identifying chemopreventive agents. Genetic mutations relevant to human colon cancer have been described in this model, but comprehensive gene expression and genomic analysis have not been reported so far. Therefore, we applied genome-wide technologies to study variations in gene expression and genomic alterations in DMH-induced colon cancer in F344 rats.

Arabinoxylan-oligosaccharides (AXOS) reduce preneoplastic lesions in the colon of rats treated with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH).

Background: Prebiotics are non-digestible compounds that beneficially affect the host by stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of resident colonic bacteria in the gut. Reported beneficial effects of prebiotics include reduced gut infections, better absorption of minerals, and notably, antitumorigenic effects. Arabinoxylan (AX)-oligosaccharides (AXOS) have been suggested to exert prebiotic effects in the gut, but their effect on colon carcinogenesis has not been studied so far.

Mucin-depleted foci show strong activation of inflammatory markers in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced carcinogenesis and are promoted by the inflammatory agent sodium dextran sulfate.

Mucin-depleted foci (MDF), formed by dysplastic crypts devoid of mucins, have been identified in the colon of carcinogen-treated rodents and in humans at high risk for colon cancer. The lack of the protective layer of mucus may cause inflammation which has been linked to colon carcinogenesis, therefore, the expression of markers such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (i-NOS) and macrophage infiltration was studied with immunohistochemistry (IH) in MDF harvested from F344 rats treated with the colon carcinogen 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH). The same determinations were performed in aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and, at a later time point, in tumours.

Correspondence between flat aberrant crypt foci and mucin-depleted foci in rodent colon carcinogenesis.

Background: Flat aberrant crypt foci (flat ACF) and mucin-depleted foci (MDF) are preneoplastic lesions identified in the colon of carcinogen-treated rodents stained with methylene blue (MB) and high iron diamine-alcian blue (HID-AB), respectively. The correspondence between flat ACF and MDF in the same colon of Min mice treated with azoxymethane (AOM) and of F344 rats treated with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) was explored.

Materials And Methods: The position of each flat ACF was recorded on a digitally constructed photographic map of the MB-stained colon.

Identification of mucin depleted foci in the human colon.

Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) originally described in rodents treated with colon-specific carcinogens have been identified also in humans at high risk of colon cancer (CRC) and are extensively used as cancer biomarkers. However, studies documenting the heterogeneity of ACF have questioned their precancerous nature. Recently, we described dysplastic foci depleted of mucins (MDF) in the colon of rats treated with colon-specific carcinogens.

No effects of olive oils with different phenolic content compared to corn oil on 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced colon carcinogenesis in rats.

Background: Some epidemiological and experimental studies suggest that olive oil, despite its elevated caloric content, may have protective activity against colon cancer, partially due to its phenolic content. However, little experimental evidence exists to support this claim in vivo.

Aim Of The Study: To test the effect of olive oils with different phenolic content in a well-characterized model of colon carcinogenesis, comparing them with corn oil (CO).

Rodent models of colon carcinogenesis for the study of chemopreventive activity of natural products.

This perspective describes some commonly used animal models for the evaluation of potential chemopreventive agents in colon carcinogenesis. Special emphasis is given to the azoxymethane (AOM)/1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) rat model and APCMIN mice, carrying a mutation in APC, a key gene in human carcinogenesis. In the AOM/DMH model, colon cancers are induced chemically by high dosages of carcinogen and tumours develop mainly in the colon through a multistep process similar to that observed in human carcinogenesis.