Evaluation of the antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic effects of inulin in vivo

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The incidence of colorectal cancer is growing worldwide. The characterization of compounds present in the human diet that can prevent the occurrence of colorectal tumors is vital. The oligosaccharide inulin is such a compound. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antigenotoxic, antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic effects of inulin in vivo. Our study is based on 3 assays that are widely used to evaluate chemoprevention (comet assay, micronucleus assay, and aberrant crypt focus assay) and tests 4 protocols of treatment with inulin (pre-treatment, simultaneous, posttreatment, and pre + continuous). Experiments were carried out in Swiss male mice of reproductive age. In order to induce DNA damage, we used the pro-carcinogenic agent 1,2-dimethylhydrazine. Inulin was administered orally at a concentration of 50 mg/kg body weight following the protocols mentioned above. Inulin was not administered to the control groups. Our data from the micronucleus assay reveal antimutagenic effects of inulin in all protocols. The percentage of inulin-induced damage reduction ranged from 47.25 to 141.75% across protocols. These data suggest that inulin could act through desmutagenic and bio-antimutagenic mechanisms. The anticarcinogenic activity (aberrant crypt focus assay) of inulin was observed in all protocols and the percentages of damage reduction ranged from 55.78 to 87.56% across protocols. Further tests, including human trials, will be necessary before this functional food can be proven to be effective in the prevention and treatment of colon cancer.

Evaluation of the antimutagenic activity and mode of action of the fructooligosaccharide inulin in the meristematic cells of Allium cepa culture

“…This protocol indicated a bioantimutagenic mode of action, which reinforced the data from the pre-treatment protocol and the remarks made by other authors in other biological assays (Roland et al, 1993(Roland et al, , 1994(Roland et al, , 1995(Roland et al, , 1996Mauro et al, 2013). This protocol suggests and confirms the action of inulin modulating the repair system.…”

“…This fact can also be corroborated by the results of a study by Mauro et al (2013), where the authors used in vivo protocols to demonstrate that the tested compound did not present mutagenic activity when it was evaluated by the micronucleus assay in peripheral blood. This same substance was not correlated with the development of aberrant crypt outbreaks, which is another method of indirect measurement of mutations and tumor development.…”

“…This suggests that inulin can modulate repair enzymes of the cellular DNA as suggested by Roland et al (1993Roland et al ( , 1994Roland et al ( , 1995Roland et al ( , 1996 and Mauro et al (2013). Therefore, we supposed that the inulin entered the meristematic cells of A. cepa and modulated the repair system, making it more efficient when preventing or repairing the damage caused by the alkylating action of MMS.…”

“…Thus, the dose tested by Mauro et al (2013) is within the recommended and used doses by the human population, where no genotoxic activity of inulin is expected. Therefore, this finding can be a warning for the necessity of further and new studies on the genotoxicity of this compound.…”

“…We did not find other correlated studies with similar discussions. However, Mauro et al (2013) stated that the dose used in the experiment is within that recommended for human use.…”