Early changes in energy metabolism in rats exposed to an acute level of deoxycholate and fed a Nigerian-like diet.

Early alterations in cellular energy metabolism, reductive biosynthesis and enzymes related to cell proliferation were studied in 40 Wistar albino rats exposed to an acute level of deoxycholate (DOC), and fed different diets. The animals were divided into four equal groups and fed ad libitum either a normal diet (ND), a high-carbohydrate high-fibre (HCF) diet, or a high-protein high-fat (HPF) diet. Three times weekly intrarectal injection of 40 mg/0.2 ml DOC was given to three groups of the rats for 9 weeks. The specific activities of phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase were all significantly (p < 0.05) increased in the DOC-treated animals compared with the physiological saline-treated control. Reductive biosynthetic enzyme activities (malic enzyme, isocitrate dehydrogenase-NADP(+)-dependent, and ATP-citrate lyase) were reduced in the DOC-treated animals compared with the control. Feeding rats with the HCF diet significantly (p < 0.05) lowered the specific activities of the enzymes of glycolysis, of the pentose phosphate pathway (oxidative) and hyaluronidase and proteinase compared with those of the HPF-fed rats. These results show an altered enzymic profile in rats fed an HCF and an HPF diet compared with rats fed the ND and suggests a protective role of the HCF diet against the development of colon cancer.