Chemomodulation of the antioxidative enzymes and peroxidative damage in the colon of 1,2-dimethyl hydrazine-induced rats by ellagicacid.

Prevention of cancer remains a primary need and new chemopreventive agents must be developed for this purpose. Toward this goal, a chemopreventive study was conducted to evaluate the potential effect of ellagic acid (EA) against 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH-) induced colon carcinogenesis in experimental rats. Rats were administered with DMH (20mg/kg body weight) subcutaneous injection once a week for 15 weeks and were supplemented with EA (60 mg/kg body weight/day orally). In the present study, the efficacy of EA on the formation of aberrant crypt foci (ACF), levels of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and activities of enzymic and non-enzymic antioxidants in DMH-induced colon-cancer-bearing rats were assessed. After the experimental period, frequency of ACF, levels of LPO were found to be increased, whereas a significant decrease in the activities of enzymic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glutathione-S-transferase) and non-enzymic antioxidants (reduced glutathione, vitamin C and vitamin E) were observed in DMH-induced rats. Supplementation of EA attenuated all these alterations to near normal levels, which indicates the anti-carcinogenic efficacy of EA. This effect was further confirmed by histopathological studies. The results obtained in the present study suggest EA as an effective chemopreventive agent on colon carcinogenesis induced by DMH.