Effect of dietary wheat bran and dehydrated citrus fiber on 3,2'-dimethyl-4-aminobiphenyl-induced intestinal carcinogenesis in F344 rats

The effect of dietary wheat bran and dehydrated citrus fiberon 3,2'-dimethyl-4-aminobiphenyl (DMAB)-induced colon and smallintestinal carcinogenesis was studied in male F344 rats. Weanlingrats were fed semipurified diets containing 5% alphacel, 5%alphacel + 15% wheat bran or 5% alphacel + 15% citrus fiber.At 7 weeks of age, all animals, except vehicle-treated controls,received weekly s.c. injections of 50 mg DMAB/kg body weightfor 20 weeks. The DMAB- or vehicle-treated groups were autopsied20 weeks after the last injection of DMAB. The animals fed thewheat bran diet and treated with DMAB had a lower incidence(number of animals with tumors) and multiplicity (number oftumors/tumor-bearing animal) of colon and small intestinal tumorsthan did those fed the control diet and treated with DMAB. Animalsfed the diet containing citrus fiber developed fewer small intestinaltumors (incidence and multiplicity) than did the rats fed thecontrol diet; the number of adenocarcinomas was reduced in ratsfed the citrus fiber diet. This study thus indicates that dietscontaining wheat bran and citrus fiber reduce the risk for DMAB-inducedintestinal cancer and that the protection against colon cancerdepends on the type of fiber.