Abstract
BackgroundMaternal consumption of a diet high in omega 6 polyunsaturated fats (n-6 PUFA) has been shown to increase risk whereas a diet high in omega 3 polyunsaturated fats (n-3 PUFA) from fish oil has been shown to decrease risk for mammary gland cancer in female offspring of rats. The aim of this study was to determine whether increasing n-3 PUFA and reducing n-6 PUFA by using canola oil instead of corn oil in the maternal diet might reduce the risk for breast cancer in female offspring.MethodsFemale SV 129 mice were divided into two groups and placed on diets containing either 10% w/w corn oil (which is 50% n-6 PUFA, control diet) or 10% w/w canola oil (which is 20% n-6 PUFA, 10% n-3 PUFA, test diet). After two weeks on the diets the females were bred with homozygous C3(1) TAg transgenic mice. Mother mice consumed the assigned diet throughout gestation and nursing of the offspring. After weaning, all female offspring were maintained on the control diet.ResultsCompared to offspring of mothers fed the corn oil diet (CO/CO group), offspring of mothers fed the canola oil diet (CA/CO group) had significantly fewer mammary glands with tumors throughout the experiment. At 130 days of age, the CA/CO group had significantly fewer tumors per mouse (multiplicity); the tumor incidence (fraction of mice with any tumor) and the total tumor weight (per mouse that developed tumor) was less than one half that of the CO/CO group. At 170 days of age, the total tumor weight per mouse was significantly less in the CA/CO group and if a tumor developed the rate of tumor growth rate was half that of CO/CO group. These results indicate that maternal consumption of canola oil was associated with delayed appearance of mammary gland tumors and slowed growth of the tumors that developed.ConclusionsSubstituting canola oil for corn oil is an easy dietary change for people to make; such a change to the maternal diet may decrease risk for breast cancer in the daughter.
Highlights
Maternal consumption of a diet high in omega 6 polyunsaturated fats (n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)) has been shown to increase risk whereas a diet high in omega 3 polyunsaturated fats (n-3 PUFA) from fish oil has been shown to decrease risk for mammary gland cancer in female offspring of rats
We have reported that the 18 carbon omega 3 PUFA found in canola oil effectively slowed the growth of implanted mammary gland cancers [7]
Group nomenclature Groups will be referred to as: 1) mother consumed corn oil containing diet (CO)/CO - mothers fed the 10% corn oil diet, pup weaned to the 10% corn oil diet or 2) canola oil containing diet (CA)/CO - mothers fed the 10% canola oil diet, pups weaned to the 10% corn oil diet
Summary
Maternal consumption of a diet high in omega 6 polyunsaturated fats (n-6 PUFA) has been shown to increase risk whereas a diet high in omega 3 polyunsaturated fats (n-3 PUFA) from fish oil has been shown to decrease risk for mammary gland cancer in female offspring of rats. Compared to a corn oil diet, maternal consumption of either an olive oil containing diet (high in omega 9 fatty acid) [5] or of a diet containing long chain omega 3 PUFA from fish oil [6] has been shown to decrease carcinogen induced mammary gland cancer in rat offspring. We hypothesized that a maternal diet that contained canola oil instead of corn oil would increase maternal dietary omega 3 PUFA and reduce the risk for mammary gland cancer in the offspring
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
