Effect of complex polyphenols on colon carcinogenesis.
BACKGROUND
Complex polyphenols and tannins from wine (WCPT) are being considered increasingly as potential cancer chemopreventive agents, since epidemiological studies suggest that populations consuming a high amount of polyphenols in the diet may have a lower incidence of some types of cancer.


OBJECTIVE
We studied the effect of WCPT on a series of parameters related to colon carcinogenesis in rats.


METHODS
WCPT were administered to F344 rats at a dose of 14 or 57 mg/kg/d, mixed with the diet. The higher dose is about ten times the exposure to polyphenols of a moderate drinker of red wine. In rats treated with WCPT, we measured fecal bile acids and long chain fatty acids, colon mucosa cell proliferation, apoptosis and, after administration of colon carcinogens, the number and size of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and nuclear aberrations.


RESULTS
Colon mucosa proliferation was not varied by chronic administration (90 d) of WCPT (14 or 57 mg/kg/d). The highest dose of WCPT decreased the number of cells in the colon crypts, but did not increase apoptosis. WCPT (57 mg/kg) administered before or after the administration of azoxymethane (AOM) did not vary the number or multiplicity of ACF in the colon. The number of nuclear aberrations (NA) in colon mucosa was studied after administration of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) and 2-amino-3-methylimidazo (4,5-f)quinoline (IQ), colon-specific carcinogens which require metabolic activation. The effect of DMH and IQ was not varied by pre-feeding WCPT (57 mg/kg) for 10 d. Similarly, the levels of total, secondary bile acids and long chain fatty acids did not varied significantly in animals fed WCPT for 90 d.


CONCLUSIONS
WCPT administration does not influence parameters related to colon carcinogenesis in the rat.
Caderni
G
G
Research Unit Biopolymers and Aromas, INRA-ISVV, Montpellier, France.
Remy
S
S
Cheynier
V
V
Morozzi
G
G
Dolara
P
P
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000494:pharmacology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D005419:Flavonoids; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D010636:Phenols / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011108:Polymers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D059808:Polyphenols; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D014920:Wine
D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D005419:Flavonoids; D010636:Phenols; D011108:Polymers; D059808:Polyphenols