Brown Rice Thwarts Colon Cancer

PUTRA, MalaysiaIn a recent Malaysian study, germinated brown rice (GBR) inhibited the total number of colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF), AC and multi-crypt of ACF development; and reduced the expression of beta-catenin and COX-2, highlighting its promise as a possible preventive method  for colon cancer (Nutr J. 2010;9:16).Male, six-week-old Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups: (G1) positive control (with colon cancer, unfed with GBR); (G2) fed with 2.5 g/kg of GBR (GBR (g)/weight of rat (kg)); (G3) fed with 5 g/kg of GBR; (G4) fed with 10 g/kg of GBR; and (G5) negative control (without colon cancer, unfed with GBR). GBR was administered orally once daily via gavage after injection of 15 mg/kg of body weight of azoxymethane (AOM) once a week for two weeks, intraperitonially.

After eight weeks of treatment, animals were sacrificed and colons were removed. Colonic ACF were evaluated histopathologically. Total number of ACF and AC, and multicrypt of ACF, and the expression of beta-catenin and COX-2 reduced significantly (P<0.05) in all the groups treated with GBR (G2, G3 and G4) compared to the control group (G1). Spearman rank correlation test showed significant positive linear relationship between total beta-catenin and COX-2 score.