Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths around the globe. Bioactive food ingredients such as prebiotics have protective potential in colon cancer. Data on galacto-oligosaccharides (GalOS) against CRC are very limited and GalOS used in this study have β-1,6 and β-1,3 as major glycosidic linkages and, to our best knowledge, were never used before against any cancer treatment. This study aims to investigate the protective role of novel GalOS against various biomarkers of CRC including aberrant crypt foci (ACF), bacterial enzymes and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) in a rodent model induced with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine dihydrochloride (DMH). Inulin group was taken as positive control in present study to compare novel GalOS protective effects. GalOS doses of 76–151 mg and inulin doses of 114 mg were given to different groups treated with DMH. Results showed that ACF formation was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) less in high dose GalOS group (27.3%). GalOS also had protective effects against DMH-induced body weight loss and showed higher level of cecal and fecal SCFA (acetate, propionate and butyrate). High doses of GalOS also resulted in significant (p ≤ 0.05) reduction of bacterial enzymatic activities. Increased populations of beneficial bacteria (bifidobacteria and lactobacilli) and decreased concentrations of harmful bacteria were observed in all prebiotics treatment groups. It can be concluded that novel GalOS exhibit robust protective activity against ACF formation in vivo.
Highlights
Food plays important role in improving health status and to manage different diseases
This study aims to investigate protective effect of GalOS against various biomarkers of Colorectal cancer (CRC) including aberrant crypt foci (ACF), enzymatic activities of microbiota and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in a DMH induced rodent model
Group G6, which was receiving inulin as treatment, gained maximum body weight among all prebiotics groups and was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher as compared to Group G2, this body weight gain was statistically similar to GalOS groups (G4 and G5)
Summary
Food plays important role in improving health status and to manage different diseases. Much importance has been given to investigate impact of food components on health. Functional foods have gained significant importance by scientists and consumers and are defined as “food ingredients that provide health benefits beyond traditional nutrients it contains” [1]. Herbal medicines are being combined with traditional foods to make functional foods and are used in dietary supplements for various health benefits. Prebiotics are functional ingredients that are not digested by mammalian enzymes and reach in colon, fermented by selective microbes to improve growth of gastrointestinal microbiota for host well-being and health [2]. Prebiotics help in selective stimulation of beneficial bacteria especially lactobacilli and bifidobacteria as well as their saccharolytic metabolites such as short chain fatty acids (SCFA), butyrate [3]
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