Carnosic acid alleviates colon tumor formation in obese mice

Abstract

Carnosic acid has been implicated to suppress adipocyte differentiation and the proliferation of several cancer cell lines. Objectives of this study were 1) to investigate carnosic acid on the growth of HT‐29 colon adenocarcinoma cells co‐cultured with adipocytes and 2) to determine the effect of carnosic acid on AOM‐DSS induced colon tumor formation in high‐fat fed obese A/J mice. Study results indicated that 3T3L1 co‐culture accelerated HT‐29 cell proliferation. Carnosic acid treatment (1 and 10 ¥ìM) decreased adipocyte‐stimulated proliferation of HT‐29 cells through cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. In vivo study results indicated that carnosic acid supplementation reduced the number of colon tumors, and decreased the circulating concentrations of leptin, adiponectin, insulin and IGF‐1. The colonic expressions of ObR, IR, p‐Akt, p‐ERK, Bcl‐xL and CyclinD1 protein were also suppressed. These results suggest that carnosic acid alleviates adipocity‐related acceleration of colon tumor formation.[This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2009‐0083853)]