Bratislava Medical Journal Vol.115, No.2, p.76-79, 2014

Background: Natural dietary compounds such as prebiotics modulate microbial composition and could prevent the colon cancer development as potential chemopreventive agent.
Objectives: Effect of prebiotic-inulin on biochemical, microbial and chemopreventive markers were examined in Sprague-Dawley rats during experimental chemically dimethylhydrazine induced colon cancer development.
Methods: Rats were divided to 3 groups: control group (CG), group with dimethylhydrazine (DMH) and group with DMH and prebiotic (DMH+PRE). The efficacy of the prebiotic inulin (PRE) on the activities of β-glucuronidase, short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), counts of coliforms and lactobacilli, immunoreactivity of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), transcription nuclear factor kappa beta (NFκB) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in colon tissue were examined.

Results: Inulin significantly decreased coliforms counts (p<0.01), increased lactobacilli counts (p<0.001), and decreased activity of β-glucuronidase (p<0.01) in fresh caecal digesta.

Butyric and propionic acids concentrations were increased after inulin supplementation in comparison to DMH group. Application of inulin decreased immunoreactivity and numbers of COX-2, NFκB and iNOS positive cells in colon tissue in comparison to DMH group.
Conclusion: Inulin suppressed expression observed markers, which play an important role in carcinogenesis and in the inflammatory process, which predisposes to the use of inulin in the prevention or treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (Tab. 1, Fig. 2, Ref. 17).