The Effect of Wild Rice on Colon Cancer in Rats

Abstract

Colon cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths. Diet is a major environmental factor that can alter the risk of colon cancer. Antioxidants, such as ferulic acid and y-oryzanol, which are found within wild rice, have been reported to reduce risk of colon cancer in mice models. However, there are few studies that look at the effect of whole grains rich in antioxidants, like wild rice, on early morphological markers of colon cancer risk, such as colonic aberrant crypt foci, or on biochemical markers such as DCLK1. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of wild rice on aberrant crypt foci (ACF) number and DCLK1 expression in carcinogen treated rats fed the Total Western Diet as a background diet. The rats were adapted to a basal diet for 10 days, during which they were injected with dimethylhydrazine, a mutagen, to initiate colon cancer. The rats were then split into three groups, a Basal diet group, Total Western Diet group, and a Total Western Diet with Wild Rice group and fed their experimental diets for 12 weeks. At the end of the 12 weeks, the rats were anesthetized, and the tissues were harvested for data collection and further analysis. ACF were enumerated in the distal colon using brightfield microscopy after staining with methylene blue. DCLK1 protein expressing was examined immunohistochemically. There were no statistically significant differences among the groups in ACF number in the distal colon. However, there was a reduction in DCLK1 staining within the Total Western Diet with wild rice group when compared to the Total Western Diet group. As DCLK1-expressing ACF are thought to be more dysplastic, a state that is considered at greater risk for tumor development, this suggests that wild rice feeding reduced the number of dysplastic ACF and therefore may have reduced colon cancer risk.