The growth of preneoplastic lesions by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine in rat colon is inhibited by dietary starch.

The effect of dietary starch and sucrose on colon proliferation and the growth of foci of dysplastic crypts in the colon (FDC) were studied in female Sprague-Dawley rats, treated p.o. with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH). The animals were fed for 30 and 105 days with high fat (23% w/w corn oil) diets in which carbohydrates were represented by corn starch (starch diet) or sucrose (sucrose diet) (46% w/w). After 105 days of feeding, proliferation was markedly reduced in animals fed the starch diet. The number of FDC was not significantly affected by dietary treatments. However, after 30 and 105 days the percent of small FDC (formed by one-two dysplastic crypts) was higher in the animals fed the starch diet when compared to the sucrose diet. In the cecum of the animals fed the starch diet the percent of butyrate, propionic, isovaleric, and valeric over total short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) was increased, whereas the percent of acetic acid was decreased. Cecal pH was also decreased in the animals fed starch. The results suggest that starch diets have a protective role against DMH-colon carcinogenesis in the rat, mediated by a drop in cecal pH and an increased concentration of some SCFA.