Inhibition by tetragastrin of experimental carcinogenesis in rat colon: effect of wheat bran consumption.

The effect of dietary wheat bran consumption on the anticarcinogenic action of tetragastrin upon colon carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane was investigated in 122 inbred Wistar rats. Rats were given a control fiber-free diet or the same basal diet plus 20% wheat bran. From week 5, they were given 250 micrograms per kg body weight of tetragastrin in depot form every other day until the end of the experiment at week 45. Prolonged administration of tetragastrin resulted in a significant reduction of the incidence and number of colonic tumors per rat in the group given the fiber-free diet. The adenocarcinomas that did develop in this group had high mucin-producing activity, unlike the cancers produced in controls without tetragastrin. However, administration of tetragastrin had little or no influence on the incidence, number or histology of colonic tumors in the group given basal diet plus wheat bran. Dietary supplementation with wheat bran alone had little or no effect on the development or histology of colonic tumors. Before and during the administration of carcinogens, addition of fiber to the diet resulted in a significant fall in the colonic pH and a significant increase in the crypt column length, but administration of tetragastrin did not have an additive effect on the crypt column length in rats fed diet supplemented with fiber.