Effect of a high fat diet on the proliferative indices of murine colonic epithelium.

The present study investigated the effect of low (5%) and high (23.5%) corn oil diets on the cytokinetic parameters of colonic crypts. C57BL/6J mice were fed the designated diets for 10 or 15 weeks. In comparison to the low corn oil group, the high corn oil group had an increased number of labelled cells per crypt, with increased labelling indices and crypt heights and larger proliferative compartments in their colons at both time periods. The findings of the present study suggest that a high corn oil diet may exert an enhanced tumorigenic effect by altering the cell diversion parameters of the colonic crypts.