J Biomed Transl Res.  2021 Dec;22(4):189-197. 10.12729/jbtr.2021.22.4.189.

Suppressive effects of pectin on colitis-associated colon carcinogenesis

• Yoo YJ
• Kim HJ
• Kim DH
• Park YS
• Nam SY
• Lee BJ
• Lee HJ

• KMID: 2528084
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12729/jbtr.2021.22.4.189

Abstract

Colorectal cancer causes the most cancer-associated death worldwide, having a high cancer incidence. Pectin is a complex polysaccharide present in various fruits, emerging as an anti-carcinogenic candidate. Although pectin has a suppressive capacity for colon carcinogenesis, the effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and colonic aberrant foci formation in the colon carcinogenesis mouse model remains unclear. Therefore, this study investigates the regulatory effect of pectin supplementation on colon carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) in mice. In an animal experiment, thirty male institute for cancer research (ICR) mice were divided into two experimental groups; AOM/DSS (control group) and AOM/DSS + pectin (5% in drinking water). Furthermore, the number of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and aberrant crypt (AC) on colonic mucosa were counted, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) assay was performed to estimate lipid peroxidation in feces. Pectin treatment significantly decreased the number of ACF and AC per colon compared with the control. Additionally, fecal TBARS level in the pectin group was significantly lower than those in the control group. Conclusively, these findings indicate that pectin-inhibited hyperplastic alteration and oxidative stress suppress colitis-associated colon carcinogenesis.

Keyword

pectins; colonic neoplasms; reactive oxygen species; oxidative stress