Abstract
The aim of this experiment was to investigate the infl uence of inulin administration on chemopreventive and inflammatory markers in dimethylhydrazine induced colorectal cancer development in rats. A group of 30 Sprague-Dawley rats was divided into a control group (CG), a group with dimethylhydrazine (DMH), and a group given dimethylhydrazine combined with the prebiotic (DMH+PRE). Dimethylhydrazine injection significantly (p<0.001) elevated the immunoreactivity chemopreventive markers COX-2, NFκB, iNOS, elevated serum and jejunal mucosa levels of proinfl ammatory cytokine IL-2, and decreased serum and jejunal mucosa levels of regulatory cytokine IL-10. Inulin diet intervention significantly suppressed immunoreactivity of COX- 2, NFκB, iNOS positive cells in the tunica mucosae and tela submucosae of rat colon tissue, increased levels of IL-2 and decreased levels of IL-10. By determining the chemopreventive markers COX-2, iNOS and NFkB, which can be characterized as inflammatory markers, we confirmed the presence of inflammation in the colon as the number of COX-2, NFkB and iNOS immunoreactive cells was significantly higher after DMH application than in the control group. These findings indicate that dietary intake of inulin suppressed the expression of the observed markers, which play an important role in carcinogenesis and inflammation, which predispose the use of inulin in the prevention or treatment of human chronic diseases and its use as a nutritional supplement in veterinary medicine.