The inexorable increase in the incidence of
colorectal cancer has led to growing interest in its prevention by natural interventions. Thus, the present study was designed with the aim of delineating the antioxidative and antitumorigenic effects of synbiotics in experimental colon
carcinogenesis. It was observed that administration of a synbiotic, before
1,2 dimethylhydrazine dihydrochloride (
DMH)-induced colon
carcinogenesis in Sprague-Dawley rats, led to increased
body weight and growth rate, and decreased
tumor incidence compared with the
DMH-only-treated group of animals. Most notably, the level of
malondialdehyde, a measure of lipid peroxidation, decreased, and levels of the
antioxidants,
glutathione reductase,
superoxide dismutase, and
glutathione peroxidase increased in animals in the Lactobacillus acidophilus+DMH, inulin+DMH, and synbiotic+DMH groups compared with
DMH-only-treated animals. Histopathological observations of the colon also documented fewer dysplastic changes and increased the number of goblet cells in the probiotic-treated,
prebiotic-treated, and synbiotic-treated animals compared with
DMH-only-treated animals. Taken together, the present study shows that the use of synbiotics is a better prophylactic strategy than the use of probiotic and
prebiotic alone because of the greater increase in
antioxidants associated with the higher degree of attenuation of
DMH-induced
tumorigenesis.