DELAYED TUMOR ONSET IN TRANSGENIC MICE FED AN AMINO ACID-BASED DIET SUPPLEMENTED WITH RED WINE SOLIDS

Increased consumption of vegetable foods (cereals, legumes, fruits) an d some beverages (tea, cider, wine) is associated with reduced risk of cancer. Polyphenols in these foods and beverages are thought to be re sponsible, based on data from in vitro assays and from in vivo studies that used animals pretreated with carcinogen and given tea or polyphe nol-spiked water to drink. We tested the hypothesis that dehydrated-de alcoholized red wine (wine solids), when consumed as part of a precise ly defined complete diet, would delay tumor onset in transgenic mice t hat spontaneously develop externally visible rumors without carcinogen pretreatment. Sibling transgenic mice were weaned onto an amino acid- based diet alone or supplemented with red wine solids, Mice were exami ned daily; the age at which a first tumor appeared was recorded as the age of tumor onset, The concentration of the major polyphenol of red wine (catechin) in blood serum was also measured at the end of the stu dy. The supplemented diet was fed continuously for three generations t o ensure thai it supported normal growth and reproduction. We discover ed that the wine solid supplement delayed tumor onset, that intact cat echin plas absorbed, and that the supplemented diet supported normal g rowth and reproduction for three generations. Also, our simple experim ental protocol offers an alternate and/or complementary way to identif y foods, beverages, and their constituents that delay gate possible me chanisms involved.