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Prevention Research 7: Diet and Cancer |
University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland and University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland
Epidemiological studies indicate that high consumption of vegetables, fruits and berries may prevent colon cancer. These foods contain a number of different phenolic compounds which have been shown to inhibit several stages of carcinogenesis in vitro. However, only a few studies have investigated the effects of berries on colon carcinogenesis in vivo. Therefore, we studied the effects of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) and cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) on adenoma formation in the multiple intestinal neoplasia (Min) mice, a homologue of human familial adenomatous polyposis. At the age of 5 weeks the male and female Min mice were assigned to either a high-fat AIN93-G-based control diet or a diet containing 10% (w/w) freeze-dried bilberry, lingonberry or cloudberry. The mice were fed the experimental diets for 10 weeks. The concentrations of antocyanins and flavonols in the bilberry diet were 5532 mg and 104 mg/kg, and in the lingonberry diet 471 mg and 97 mg/kg, respectively. The cloudberry diet contained only 2 mg flavonols but 1564 mg ellagic acid/kg diet. After the feeding period, the mice were sacrified and the number, diameter and location of adenomas were determined by an inverse light microscope. All berries significantly decreased the number of adenomas in the small intestine, the average reduction being 40%. The mean number (±SD) of adenomas in the small intestine were 39 ± 17 (P <0.05) in the bilberry, 37 ± 13 (P<0.01) in the lingonberry and 43 ± 15 (P <0.05) in the cloudberry group compared to 65 ± 55 in the control group. The cloudberry and lingonberry also significantly decreased the mean size of adenomas which was most pronounced in the distal small intestine: the mean diameter of adenomas were 0.77 ± 0.10 mm (P <0.01) in the lingonberry, 0.69 ± 0.11 mm (P <0.01) in the cloudberry, and 0.97 ± 0.14 mm in the control groups. On the contrary, the mice fed bilberry had larger adenomas in the distal small intestine than the mice fed the control diet (1.06 ± 0.23 vs. 0.97 ± 0.14 mm; P <0.05). These results suggest that all three berries studied prevent the formation of new adenomas but only lingonberry and cloudberry prevent the growth of existing adenomas in the Min mice. Because the phenolic profiles of berries are different, their effects on the intestinal mucosa may be mediated through different pathways. It is also possible that the effects of berries on adenoma formation are independent of their phenolic profiles. Further studies are required to investigate the mechanims behind the chemopreventive effects of berries.
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