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Lee Swanson Research Update
Insufficient Vitamin B Levels May Promote Colon Cancer
December 2007
Moderate deficiency of folate, riboflavin and vitamins B-6 and B-12 together may promote the risk of DNA damage and increase the risk of colorectal cancers, suggests a new study with mice.
The researchers, led by Zhenhua Liu from Tufts University, studied the Wnt pathway—a cellular signaling pathway linked to more than 85% of colon cancers-and found that mild depletion of all four B vitamins was needed to promote the risk of tumor formation.
Previously, studies have suggested that folate deficiency alone may promote the risk of colorectal cancer. The new research suggests a more complex interaction.
Liu and collaborators used cancer-susceptible Apc mice to test if mild folate depletion alone or in combination with the other B vitamins resulted in changes to the Wnt pathway.
They tested several biochemical, immunological and genetic markers over a 10-week dietary period and found that a mild depletion of all four B vitamins significantly increased the DNA damage localized at the Apc gene. Folate depletion alone did not affect DNA.
The Apc (adenomatosis polyposis coli) gene is classified as a tumor suppressor. Damage to the DNA that codes for this gene would therefore raise the risk of tumor formation.
"The findings, under conditions of relatively mild dietary deficiency, suggest that whereas mild folate deficiency alone may not be sufficient to observe an effect on Wnt signaling, the concomitant deficiency of folate and other B vitamins may produce abnormalities of the type associated with human colorectal cancers," wrote the researchers.
The Journal of Nutrition 137:2701-2708, 2007
