Effects of green tea on colonic aberrant crypt foci and proliferative indexes in rats

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of green tea on 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced aberrant crypt foci (ACF) formation in Wistar rats. Forty-five male weanling Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups. Rats in Group 1 were injected with DMH (20 mg/kg s.c.) once a week for 10 weeks. Animals in Group 2 received 2% green tea water extract as the sole source of drinking fluid in addition to the same treatment used for Group 1. Group 3 was the negative control group. Animals were killed at the end of Week 16 after the first DMH treatment. ACF were formed in animals in their DMH-treated groups at the end of Week 16. Group 2 had fewer ACF than Group 1. Compared with the positive control group, proliferating cell nuclear antigen labeling index, silver-stained nucleolar organizer regions, and ras-p21 expression were significantly reduced in Group 2. It was concluded that green tea drinking inhibited ACF formation in rats, and such effects may be related to the suppression of cell proliferation in the intestinal crypts.