A buckwheat protein product suppresses 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced coloncarcinogenesis in rats by reducing cell proliferation

This study was conducted to examine the effect of consumption of buckwheat protein product (BWP) on 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced colon tumor in rats. Male growing Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets containing either ca sein or BWP (net protein level, 200 g/kg; n = 20/group) for 124 d, The rats were gavaged weekly with DMH (20 mg/kg body) for the first 8 wk. Food inta ke and growth were unaffected by dietary manipulation. Dietary BWP caused a 47% reduction in the incidence of colonic adenocarcinoma (P < 0.05), but d id not affect the incidence of colonic adenomas. BWP intake tended to reduc e the number of colon adenocarcinomas (P = 0.16). Consumption of BWP signif icantly reduced cell proliferation and expression of c-myc and c-fos protei ns in colonic epithelium, The results suggest that dietary BWP has a protec tive effect against DMH-induced colon carcinogenesis in rats by reducing ce ll proliferation.