QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gallaher, D. D. Articles by Brady, L. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gallaher, D. D. Articles by Brady, L. J.

Probiotics, Cecal Microflora, and Aberrant Crypts in the Rat Colon^1,2,3,4,

Department of Food Science & Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108-6099

Our hypothesis was that administration of bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus or both to rats will minimize the numbers of aberrant crypts in the distal colon that develop in response to the carcinogen 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH). A series of experiments was designed to test this hypothesis where the treatments used were as follows: skim milk controls (Skim-Basal), skim milk + bifidobacteria (Bifido-Basal), skim milk + fructooligosaccharide (Skim-FOS), and skim milk + bifidobacteria + fructooligosaccharide (Bifido-FOS). In two experiments, bifidobacteria + FOS administration significantly decreased the number of aberrant crypts that developed, but there was no clear relationship of aberrant crypts to numbers of bifidobacteria or Clostridium perfringens. In the third experiment, the Bifido-FOS treatment led to significantly fewer aberrant crypts and aberrant crypt foci than the Bifido-Basal treatment. The Skim-FOS group had significantly more cecal bifidobacteria than the Skim-Basal group and significantly fewer C. perfringens than the Skim-Basal and Bifido-Basal. In a fourth experiment, L. acidophilus was added as an additional treatment. The number of aberrant crypts was not significantly different among the groups. However, the number of C. perfringens was significantly decreased by the addition of bifidobacteria, L. acidophilus or the combination of the two, whereas the numbers of bifidobacteria and L. acidophilus were not affected by treatment. A significant correlation (R² = 0.84, P < 0.01) was noted between the body weight of rats at DMH administration and the magnitude of the difference in aberrant crypts between the Skim-Basal rats and the Bifido-FOS rats. The results suggest that there is variability in the effects of bifidobacteria and L. acidophilus administration on both aberrant crypt formation and C. perfringens.

KEY WORDS: • probiotics • colon cancer • bifidobacteria • clostridia • rats

¹ Parts of this work were presented at the 1994 Annual Meeting of the American Dairy Science Association in Minneapolis, MN [Busta, F. F., Blessing, L., Brady, P. S., Gallaher, D. D. & Brady, L. J. (1994) Effect of bifidobacteria delivered in skim milk on colonic bifidobacteria and Clostridium perfringens. J. Dairy Sci. 77(1): 3] and the 1995 Annual Experimental Biology Meeting in Atlanta, GA [Stallings, W. H, Gallaher, D. D., Busta, F. F. & Brady, L. J. (1995) The effects of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli on Clostridium perfringens in the rat. FASEB J. 9: A454 (abs.)].

² Supported in part by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station (Projects MN-18-069 to L.J.B. and F.F.B. and MN-18-060 to D.D.G.), National Institutes of Health, Minnesota-South Dakota Dairy Foods Research Center, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (MIN-18-038).

³ The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 USC section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

⁴ Published as Paper 21936 of the contribution series of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station.

Manuscript received 25 September 1995. Revision accepted 13 February 1996.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. P. Femia, C. Luceri, P. Dolara, A. Giannini, A. Biggeri, M. Salvadori, Y. Clune, K. J. Collins, M. Paglierani, and G. Caderni Antitumorigenic activity of the prebiotic inulin enriched with oligofructose in combination with the probiotics Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis on azoxymethane-induced colon carcinogenesis in rats Carcinogenesis, November 1, 2002; 23(11): 1953 - 1960. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Ruperez Oligosacaridos bifidogenicos: Bifidogenic oligosaccharides Food Science and Technology International, January 1, 1998; 4(4): 237 - 243. [Abstract] [PDF]