ABSTRACT
The study was designed to compare the anti-carcinogenic effect of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomers on colon carcinogenesis in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-treated rats by determining the levels of apoptosis, cell proliferation, eicosanoids and 1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG) in colonic mucosa. Sixty male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups depending on the types of CLA isomers, i.e. BT group (no CLA contained), CLA-C group (cis-9, trans11 isomer contained), and CLA- T group (trans-10, cis-12 isomer contained). The experimental diet was composed of protein at 20%, carbohydrate at 56.2%, and fat at 14.5% including 0.8% CLA isomers by weight. The experimental diet was fed for 14 weeks with the initiation of intramuscular injection of DMH, which was injected twice a week for 6 weeks to give total dose of l80mg per kg body weight. Two CLA isomers (c9t11 and t10c12) significantly increased the relative percentage of apoptosis but reduced cell proliferation in mucosal cell and also the levels of PGE2, TXB2, and DAG in colonic mucosa. However, there was no significant differences in anti-carcinogenic effect between c9t11 isomer and t10c12 isomer. Overall, colon carcinogenesis could be significantly inhibited by CLA isomers by increasing apoptosis and reducing cell proliferation, the levels of eicosanoids and DAG in colonic mucosa.