Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of
cancer deaths around the globe. Bioactive
food ingredients such as
prebiotics have protective potential in
colon cancer. Data on galacto-
oligosaccharides (GalOS) against CRC are very limited and GalOS used in this study have β-1,6 and β-1,3 as major glycosidic linkages and, to our best knowledge, were never used before against any
cancer treatment. This study aims to investigate the protective role of novel GalOS against various
biomarkers of CRC including
aberrant crypt foci (ACF), bacterial
enzymes and
short chain fatty acids (SCFA) in a rodent model induced with
1,2-dimethylhydrazine dihydrochloride (
DMH).
Inulin group was taken as positive control in present study to compare novel GalOS protective effects. GalOS doses of 76-151 mg and
inulin doses of 114 mg were given to different groups treated with
DMH. Results showed that ACF formation was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) less in high dose GalOS group (27.3%). GalOS also had protective effects against
DMH-induced
body weight loss and showed higher level of cecal and fecal SCFA (
acetate,
propionate and
butyrate). High doses of GalOS also resulted in significant (p ≤ 0.05) reduction of bacterial enzymatic activities. Increased populations of beneficial bacteria (bifidobacteria and lactobacilli) and decreased concentrations of harmful bacteria were observed in all
prebiotics treatment groups. It can be concluded that novel GalOS exhibit robust protective activity against ACF formation in vivo.