The gut microbiota, including pathogenic microorganisms and probiotics, has been involved in
tumor initiation and progression by regulating the components of intestinal flora. Canmei formula (CMF), a
traditional Chinese medicine, chronicled in the Chuang Yang Jing Yan Quan Shu, has been clinically used as an adjuvant
therapy to treat patients with
colorectal carcinoma (CRC) in China. In this study, we investigate the treatment effect of CMF in the
azoxymethane (AOM) and
dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) induced and high-fat diet augmented
colitis-associated colorectal cancer in vivo, and explore its mechanism of action. We found that CMF treatment relieved the
inflammation and alteration of the gut microbiota and significantly inhibited the development of intestinal
adenoma. Linear discriminant analysis showed that the flora diversity in the normal mice, model mice and CMF treatment mice was different. At the family level, the relative abundance of Desulfovibrionaceae decreased in CMF groups. The relative abundance of Desulfovibrionaceae were lower in the CMF groups than in model group, whereas Rikenellaceae and Alistipes were increased. Altogether our results indicate that CMF treatment ameliorate
colitis-associated colorectal
carcinogenesis by modulating the composition of the gut microbiota in vivo.