Resveratrol depresses the growth of colorectal aberrant crypt foci by affecting bax and p21(CIP) expression.

We investigated whether resveratrol (RV) affects azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon carcinogenesis, by administering RV (200 microg/kg/day in drinking water) to male F344 rats for 100 days, beginning 10 days before carcinogen treatment (two weekly doses of 15 mg/kg AOM). Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) were isolated and proliferation, apoptosis and expression of the cell cycle genes bax and p21 were determined. RV significantly reduced the number of ACF/colon [25.7 +/- 3.6 (mean +/- SEM) versus 39.4 +/- 3.3 in controls; P < 0.01] and their multiplicity (2.7 +/- 0.3 versus 4.9 +/- 0.6 in controls; P < 0.01), and also abolished large ACF. In RV-treated rats, bax expression was enhanced in ACF but not in the surrounding mucosa. In both controls and RV-treated rats, proliferation was higher in ACF than in normal mucosa. p21 was expressed in ACF of controls and of RV-treated rats and in normal mucosa of controls, but was lost in normal mucosa of RV-treated animals. In conclusion, the results suggest a protective role of RV in colon carcinogenesis with a mechanism involving changes in bax and p21 expression.