Jacalin Has Chemopreventive Effects on Colon Cancer Development.

Colorectal cancer, which is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, has a slow natural history that provides a great opportunity for prevention strategies. Plant-derived natural products have received considerable attention because of their inherent colorectal cancer chemopreventive effects. The plant lectin jacalin specifically recognizes the tumor-associated Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen and has antiproliferative effects on human colon cancer cells, highlighting its potential antitumor activity.

Partial lipectomy reduces dimethylhydrazine-induced carcinogenic initiation in the colon of rats.

This study investigated whether visceral adipose tissue directly modulates the development of preneoplastic lesions in the colon of carcinogen-treated rats. Wistar rats (n=64) were randomly assigned to 8 experimental groups in two experiments. In one experiment, 32 rats were exposed or not to either carcinogen treatment (dimethylhydrazine, DMH; 125 mg/kg) or high-fat diet (standard chow enriched with 14% lard) or both for 56 days.

The anti-obesity agent Orlistat is associated to increase in colonic preneoplastic markers in rats treated with a chemical carcinogen.

Orlistat is an anti-obesity agent that increases the fecal fat excretion, which promotes colon carcinogenesis. Therefore, the present study was designed to verify the effects of Orlistat on the formation of rat colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and cell proliferation evaluated by the PCNA method. Male Wistar rats received either a standard diet or a high fat diet (HFD), supplemented or not with Orlistat (200mg/kg chow) and two doses of the carcinogen dimethyl-hydrazine (25mg/Kg).