ABSTRACT
Lentils [Lens culmans, L.] contain several bioactive compounds that have been linked to the prevention of cancer. However, the in vivo chemopreventive ability of lentils against chemically-induced colonic lesions has not been previously examined. Our present study examined the hypothesis that lentils could suppress neoplasmic growth in viva by virtue of their bioactive micro-and macro-constituents, and that culinary thermal treatment could affect the chemopreventive potential. To accomplish this goal, raw whole lentils [RWL], raw split lentils [RSL], cooked whole lentils [CWL] and cooked split lentils [CSL] were used. Pluronic F-68 [PF68], which is a well-studied chemopreventive agent, was used also for the purpose of comparison. Sixty weanling Fisher 344 male rats, 4-5 weeks of age, were randomly assigned to six groups [10 rats/group]: the control group [C] received AIN-93G diet; treatment lentil groups of RWL. CWL. RSL and CSL received the treatment diets containing AIN-93G+5% of lentils, while PF68 group received C+1% PF68 diet. After acclimatization for I week, all animals were put on the control and treatment diets separately for 5 weeks. At the end of the fifth week of feeding, all rats received two s.c. injections of azoxymethane [AOM] carcinogen at 1 5 mg/kg rat body weight/dose once a week for two consecutive weeks. After 17 weeks of the last AOM injection, all rats were euthanized. Total colonic lesions and neoplasms [mean +/- SEM] ranged from 6 to 8 for lentil groups, with a reduction value of 43 to 57% from the control [C] group [14 lesions]. Incidence of severe dysplasia was reduced significantly [P=0.0022] in the colons of rats fed on lentils [0%-10%], except RWL [20%] when compared with the control [40%] whilst incidence of adenocarcinomas was reduced significantly [P=0.0430] in lentil groups [0-10%], except RSL [20%], when compared with the control [40%]. Our findings indicate that the consuniption of lentils may attenuate colon carcinogenesis in animal models, and that hydrothermal treatment resulted in an improvement in the chemopreventive potential