Intestinal microbiota may influence the likelihood of developing a human colon cancer -
The microscopic organisms that live in our intestines do more than help us digest food. A new rat study reinforces a growing body of evidence that the complex mixture of microorganisms found in the intestine, known as gut microbiota, may influence the likelihood of developing cancer of the colon of a person.
Earlier studies in humans have shown that cancer is associated with changes in the gut microbiota. In the new study, researchers from the University of Missouri at Columbia used rats to further explore the possible relationship between cancer and the bacteria in the gut. They implanted embryos from a strain of genetically modified rats to develop colon cancer in the wombs of three other rat strains, each with distinct intestinal microbiota: F344 / NHSD (F344), LEW / SsNHsd (LEW) and Crl: SD (SD).
1.5 months, the microbiota of the pups, which usually develop tumors of 2 to 4 months of age, like that of their surrogate mothers. The researchers studied tumor when the pups reached 6 months and found that rats with LEW microbiota developed significantly fewer tumors than the other strains. In fact, two rats with LEW strain gut microbiota do not develop colon tumors at all. The researchers also discovered more tumors in rats with intestinal microbiota F344 who had higher levels of Peptococcaceae and Akkermansia muciniphila bacteria in their guts. Overall, the results of this study provide new insight into the role of the intestinal microbiota as a modulator and a predictor of cancer in this rat model.
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