Prevention of Chronic Experimental Colitis Induced by Dextran Sulphate Sodium (DSS)‎ in Mice Treated with FR91

Abstract EN

One of the main treatments currently used in humans to fight cancer is chemotherapy.

A huge number of compounds with antitumor activity are present in nature, and many of their derivatives are produced by microorganisms.

However, the search for new drugs still represents a main objective for cancer therapy, due to drug toxicity and resistance to multiple chemotherapeutic drugs.

In animal models, a short-time oral administration of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induces colitis, which exhibits several clinical and histological features similar to ulcerative colitis (UC).

However, the pathogenic factors responsible for DSS-induced colitis and the subsequent colon cancer also remain unclear.

We investigated the effect of FR91, a standardized lysate of microbial cells belonging to the Bacillus genus which has been previously shown to have significant immunomodulatory effects, against intestinal inflammation.

Colitis was induced in mice during 5 weeks by oral administration 2% (DSS).

Morphological changes in the colonic mucosa were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry methods.

Adenocarcinoma and cryptal cells of the dysplastic epithelium showed cathenin-β, MLH1, APC, and p53 expression, together with increased production of IFN-γ.

In our model, the optimal dose response was the 20% FR91 concentration, where no histological alterations or mild DSS-induced lesions were observed.

These results indicate that FR91 may act as a chemopreventive agent against inflammation in mice DSS-induced colitis.