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ARS Home » Plains Area » Grand Forks, North Dakota » Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center » Healthy Body Weight Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #116879
Title: HIGH-SELENIUM WHEAT PROTECTS AGAINST COLON CANCER IN RATS

Author
item Finley, John
item Davis, Cindy
item HINTZE, KORRY - UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA

Submitted to: Experimental Biology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2001
Publication Date: 3/7/2001
Citation: Finley, J.W., Davis, C.D., Hintze, K. 2001. High-selenium wheat protects against colon cancer in rats [abstract]. The Federation of American Societies foe Experimental Biology Journal. 15(4):A62.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Previously we demonstrated that selenite and selenate, but not selenomethionine (SeMet), decreased numbers of chemically-induced aberrant crypts (AC) and aberrant crypt foci (ACF; preneoplastic lesions indicative of colon cancer) in rats. High-selenium wheat has been used to supplement low-selenium human populations; it is highly bioavailable, but because the chemical form is primarily SeMet, it is uncertain whether it provides protection against cancer. To investigate the cancer protective properties of high-selenium wheat, a processed whole-wheat food product was made from wheat containing 9 ug/g selenium. Weanling male Fisher F- 344 rats were assigned to torula yeast-based diets supplemented with 0.1ug Se/g from high-selenium wheat (Diet 1), 0.5 ug Se/g from high-selenium broccoli (Diet 2), 2.0 ug Se/g from high-selenium wheat (Diet 3) or 2.0 ug Se/g from a mixture of high-selenium wheat (1.5 ug Se/g) and high-selenium broccoli (0.5 ug Se/g) (Diet 4). Rats were fed the diets 3 weeks, then injected with dimethyl-hydrazine, a carcinogen known to induce colonic tumors. Rats were fed the diets nine weeks before they were killed and the number of ACF in the colons were determined. Diets containing high- selenium wheat that provided 2.0 ug Se/g diet significantly reduced the numbers of AC and ACF (p<0.05), as compared to diets providing 0.1 or 0.5 ug Se/g. The addition of high-selenium broccoli, a form of selenium especially efficacious against colon cancer, did not augment the reduction of AC and ACF. These results show that foods containing selenium from wheat are effective for prevention of colon cancer.