Encouraging growth of Bacteroides plebeius can potentially suppress colitis-associated colon cancer development, Academia Sinica researchers said.
Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica researcher Meng Tzu-ching (孟子青) said that he and his team conducted the research due to the prevalence of colorectal cancer in Taiwan, which can be caused by multiple factors, including chronic inflammation, genetic disposition, gut dysbiosis and genetics.
Dietary habits and predilection for exercise are other possible causes, Meng said.
Photo courtesy of the Fisheries Research Institute
This bacteria, which are also known as Phocaeicola plebeius, are commonly found in Japanese people, who have a reputation for longevity and healthy digestion, as well as eating seaweed and kelp at least two or three times per week, the researchers said.
The team undertook the project to attempt to show a causal relationship between B plebeius and Japanese gut health, with colonization of the bacteria in mice guts facilitating an evaluation of the long-term effects on colon cancer development, they said in a paper, “Gut colonization of Bacteroides plebeius suppresses colitis-associated colon cancer development,” which was published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum on Jan. 13.
Mice that were given seaweed and kelp showed a greater tendency of high rates of B plebeius growth, the paper said.
Colonies were studied from gnotobiotic and specific-pathogen-free mice that had been given azoxymethane and dextran sulfate sodium (AOM/DSS) — tumor promoting substances, Meng said.
Tissue samples collected after 90 days of AOM/DSS administration showed that tumor number, burden and size in the population of mice fed a seaweed diet and B plebeius were significantly reduced compared with mice fed the seaweed diet alone, the report said.
B plebeius can effectively restructure the gut microbial community and produce beneficial metabolites to inhibit colon cancer development, it said.
The bacteria have potential as a therapeutic agent in cancer prevention, it added.
Preliminary investigations show that more than half of Taiwanese have B plebeius in their guts and that further research would look into how the bacterium inhibit colon cancer.
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