Preventive effect of fluvastatin on ulcerative colitis-associated carcinogenesis in mice

An increased incidence of colorectal carcinoma is known to occur in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), which displays a cycle of recurrence-remission in the colorectal mucosa. Fluvastatin, an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, is a hypocholesterolemic agent effective in animals and humans. Repeated administration of 3% dextran sulfate sodium subsequent to a single intraperitoneal injection of azoxymethane induces chronic UC resulting in an increased incidence of high-grade dysplasia and submucosal-invasive adenocarcinomas in the mouse colorectum. The effects of fluvastatin as an antioxidant on colorectal carcinogenesis in mice with UC were investigated. Treatment with fluvastatin in mice with UC abolished the anemia caused by colorectal carcinogenesis, and markedly lowered plasma lipid levels resulting in a reduction of colitis and carcinogenesis, shown by inhibition of the decrease in colorectal length, the increased number of foci of gland loss with inflammatory cell infiltration indicating the severity of UC and incidence of colorectal dysplasia, respectively, with a reduction in anti-8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) antibody (a biological marker of in vivo oxidative DNA damage)-positive cells of the colorectal mucosa and the activity of the DNA-synthesizing enzyme thymidine kinase in colorectal tissues.