Dietary Maltitol Decreases the Incidence of 1,2-Dimethylhydrazine-Induced Cecum and Proximal Colon Tumors in Rats

Manuscript received 30 December 1996. Initial reviews completed 3 February 1997. Revision accepted 1 December 1997.

Midoriko Tsukamura^*, Hidemi Goto^*, Tomiyasu Arisawa^*, Tetsuo Hayakawa^*, Naoya Nakai, Taro Murakami, Noriaki Fujitsuka, and Yoshiharu Shimomura^,

^* Department of Internal Medicine II, School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466, Japan and  Department of Bioscience, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466, Japan

Maltitol is fermented in the colon due to only partial hydrolysis in the small intestine. In the present study, we examined effects of dietary maltitol on dimethylhydrazine-induced intestinal tumor in rats. In experiment 1, rats were fed a fiber-free diet or diets supplemented with 1 or 5 g/100 g maltitol for 27 wk. Each group of rats was injected with dimethylhydrazine or vehicle alone for the first 14 wk of the experimental period. Maltitol supplementation at 1 g/100 g of the diet significantly reduced tumor incidence in the cecum and the 5% supplement reduced tumor incidence in both the cecum and proximal colon in dimethylhydrazine-treated rats. In experiment 2, we investigated the effect of the 1 g/100 g maltitol diet on the short chain fatty acid concentrations in cecal contents of placebo and dimethylhydrazine-treated rats. Intake of the 1 g/100 g maltitol diet doubled (P < 0.05) the concentration of butyrate but did not affect acetate or propionate in the cecal contents. These results suggest that dietary maltitol has a protective effect against dimethylhydrazine-induced tumors in rat cecum and proximal colon and that butyrate produced by bacterial fermentation of maltitol in the cecum may be involved in the protection.

The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 3 March 1998, pp. 536-540
Copyright ©1998 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

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