ASPO Abstracts
Exploring the chemopreventive effect of a maize fiber dietary intervention to reduce colon cancer risk in rats treated with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine by water proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Category: Lifestyles Behavior, Energy Balance & Chemoprevention
Conference Year: 2020
Abstract Body:
Purpose of the study: Ferulated arabinoxylans (AX) are dietary fiber from cereals that present prebiotic and
antioxidant properties, which make them attractive biomolecules for cancer prevention, particularly colon cancer.
The present study aims to investigate the effect of a maize AX dietary intervention on the colon cancer risk in rats
treated with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH). Methods: Adults male Wistar rats were divided into three groups. Each
group was fed with one of the following diets for 35 days: a standard diet (Control); the same standard diet (rats
treated with DMH); the same standard diet supplemented with AX (4.8% w/w, rats treated with DMH). DMH was
administered nine days after the beginning of experimental diets (40 mg/kg, 2 doses/week, 2 weeks,
subcutaneous injection). At the end of the experiment, the rats were sacrificed, and the colon tissue was removed
and analyzed by water proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to obtain the spin-lattice relaxation time (T1).
The bodyweight of the rats was recorded during the trial. Morphological analysis of the colon tissues at the end of
the test was also performed. Results: There were no differences (p < 0.05) in body weight gaining between the
three experimental groups. The body weights, in the beginning, were 277, 257 and 259 g, and 323, 302, and 308
g at the end of the experiment for Control, DMH, and DMH+AX groups, respectively. The T1 for the DMH+AX
group (570 ms) was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that for the DMH group (600 ms). The T1 value for the
Control group (500 ms) was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than those of DMH and DMH+AX. The colon of Control
and DMH+AX animals displayed normal morphology with no apparent signs of abnormality, while DMH treated
colon revealed morphological changes. Conclusions: The incorporation of maize AX to the diet of rats treated with
DMH reduced the T1 value of the colon tissue and conserved the colon morphology normal. The evidence
suggests that maize AX could have a chemopreventive effect and reduce colon cancer risk. Additional studies are
being carried out to increase our understanding of maize AX anticancer properties as well as the opportunities and
challenges of their use in the context of diet intervention and colon cancer prevention.
Keywords: maize arabinoxylans, diet, NMR spectroscopy, colon cancer.