Chemopreventive effect of indole-3-carbinol on induction of preneoplastic altered hepatic foci

Indole-3-carbinol (13C) is a cleavage product of glucobrassicanin, a natural compound present in a wide variety of plant food substances including members of the family Cruciferae. 13C is known to possess cancer-chemopreventive potential in various animal models. The present study reveals the protective effect of BC on the development of diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-initiated and 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF)-promoted preneoplastic, altered hepatic foci (AHF) in Wistar rats. 13C was given at dose levels of 0.5 and 1 mg/kg body weight for five consecutive days along with DEN and AAF AHF were scored and analyzed by quantitative stereology using the Image Analysis System from frozen liver sections stained for positive and negative biological markers of AHF, that is, glutathione S-transferase (GST-P), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase), and alkaline phosphatase (AlkPase). Results revealed the chemopreventive effect of 13C on the DEN-initiated AHF in Wistar rats. The expression of G6Pase, ATPase, and AlkPase was restored in the 13C-supplemented animal. Similarly the induced expression GST-P and GGT also decreased in the animals with 13C administration. The recovery of altered levels of these biomarkers was of comparatively higher magnitude in the animals given a higher dose of 13C (1 mg/kg body weight) in comparison with the animals given 0.5 mg/kg body weight dose of 13C, although no dose-dependence pattern was recorded in BC-supplemented groups. These results thus suggest the chemopreventive effect of BC in rat hepatocarcinogenesis by suppressing DEN- and AAF-induced AHF development.