Fiche publication
Date publication
septembre 2012
Auteurs
Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Pr MARESCAUX Jacques
Tous les auteurs :
Kauntz H, Bousserouel S, Gosse F, Marescaux J, Raul F
Lien Pubmed
Résumé
The flavonolignan silibinin, the major biologically active compound of the milk thistle (Silybum marianum), has been shown to possess anticancer properties in a variety of epithelial cancers. The present study investigated the potential of silibinin as a chemopreventive agent in colon carcinogenesis. The rat azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon carcinogenesis model was used because of its molecular and clinical similarities to sporadic human colorectal cancer. One week after AOM injection (post-initiation), Wistar rats received daily intragastric feeding of 300 mg silibinin/kg body weight per day until their sacrifice after 7 weeks of treatment. Silibinin-treated rats exhibited a 2-fold reduction in the number of AOM-induced hyperproliferative crypts and aberrant crypt foci in the colon compared to AOM-injected control rats receiving the vehicle. Silibinin-induced apoptosis in the colon mucosal cells was demonstrated by flow cytometry after propodium iodide staining and by colorimetric measurement of caspase-3 activity. Mechanisms involved in silibinin-induced apoptosis included the downregulation of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and upregulation of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax, inverting the Bcl-2/Bax ratio to
Référence
Int J Oncol. 2012 Sep;41(3):849-54