Novel mucilage fraction of Sinapis alba L. (mustard) reduces azoxymethane-induced colonic aberrant crypt foci formation in F344 and Zucker obese rats

Seeds of Sinapis alba Linn. (commonly called yellow or white mustard) and their components have been reported to possess anticancer properties. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of a novel mucilaginous fraction of mustard seeds in inhibiting colonic preneoplastic changes in animal models of sporadic and obesity-associated colon cancer. In two separate studies, male Sprague-Dawley or female Zucker obese rats, injected with azoxymethane (15 or 10 mg/kg body wt. once a week for 2 weeks, respectively), were fed AIN-93G diets with or without 5% mustard mucilage (MM) (w/w) for 8 weeks. Our aim was to measure the ability to modulate the number of aberrant crypt foci (ACF), putative preneoplastic lesions of the colon. The data were classified into total numbers of ACF and large ACF (crypt multiplicity of 4 or more). We report here that 5% MM significantly (p<0.05) decreased the number of total (approximately 21% inhibition) and large (approximately 50% inhibition) ACF in the colons of Sprague-Dawley rats compared to that in untreated controls. In addition, 5% MM supplemented diet significantly lowered (p<0.05) the number of total (approximately 63% inhibition) and large (approximately 60% inhibition) colonic ACF in Zucker obese rats compared to untreated obese rats, and had no effect on fasting plasma cholesterol or triglyceride levels. These results demonstrate the possible role of MM as a functional food against sporadic and obesity-associated colon cancer, and provide impetus to conduct research to understand the underlying mechanism(s) of action.