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Wheat Bran and Corn Oil Do Not Influence Proliferation in the Colon of Healthy Rats when Energy Intakes Are Equivalent¹

Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

Dietary intakes of fiber (wheat bran) and fat (corn oil) by rats were quantitatively varied for 6 wk while intakes of energy and essential nutrients were constant among the diets. The influence of wheat bran and corn oil levels on colonic epithelial cell proliferation was assessed using [³H]thymidine incorporation assays. Cellular proliferation in the cecum, proximal colon and distal colon was not significantly higher when healthy rats consumed low fiber in comparison to high fiber diets, nor when healthy rats consumed high fat diets in comparison to low fat diets. Additionally, there were no significant interactions between these variables. In comparison to the low fiber diets, diets high in fiber caused a significantly lower pH of luminal contents of the cecum and distal colon, but there were no significant differences in the total short-chain fatty acid concentrations of cecal digesta. These results suggest that when energy intakes are equivalent among diets, low levels of fiber or high levels of fat in the diet do not cause biological changes in colonic mucosa that may be associated with increased risk of colonic cancer.

KEY WORDS: • fiber • fat • colon • proliferation • rats

¹ Funds provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture Experiment Station and National Institutes of Health Competitive Grant R01-40845.

² Current address: Department of Pediatrics, Stanford Medical Center, Stanford, CA.

³ To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Manuscript received 18 January 1991. Revision accepted 13 June 1991.

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