ABSTRACT
Objectives: To investigate the effect of butyrate, the by-products of diet fiber fermented in colon, on the apoptosis of human colon cancer cell and its mechanism for colon cancer prevention. Methods: The subculture of human colon cancer cell line SW1116 was cultured in medium without or with different concentration of butyrate(2、3、4、7 and 10 mmol/L). The cell proliferation rate and apoptosis were measured by MTT and flow cytometer or electro-microscopy respectively after 6、24、48 and 72 cultivation. Results: By the increasing of butyrate concentration and cell culture time, the proliferation of SW1116 cell was inhibited gradually with a highest rate of 59.19% during the study period. The percent of G 1 cell was increased gradually whereas the percent of S cell was decreased. The apoptosis rate of SW1116 was increased gradually with a highest rate of 30.62% at the same time. The ultrastructure of SW1116 cell was changed after butyrate was added to culture medium. Conclusions: Butyrate could not only inhibit the proliferation of colon cancer cell line but also induce it apoptosis.