Effect of a Diet Supplemented with Sphingomyelin and Probiotics on Colon Cancer Development in Mice

Previous studies have reported that dietary sphingomyelin could inhibit early stages of colon cancer. Lactic acid–producing bacteria have also been associated with an amelioration of cancer symptoms. However, little is known about the potential beneficial effects of the combined administration of both sphingomyelin and lactic acid–producing bacteria. This article analyzes the effect of a diet supplemented with a combination of the probiotics Lacticaseibacillus casei and Bifidobacterium bifidum (10 8 CFU/ml) and sphingomyelin (0.05%) on mice with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced colon cancer. Thirty-six BALB/c mice were divided into 3 groups: one healthy group (group C) and two groups with DMH-induced cancer, one fed a standard diet (group D) and the other fed a diet supplemented with sphingomyelin and probiotics (DS). The number of aberrant crypt foci, marker of colon cancer development, was lower in the DS. The dietary supplementation with the synbiotic reversed the cancer-induced impairment of galactose uptake in enterocyte brush–border–membrane vesicles. These results confirm the beneficial effects of the synbiotic on the intestinal physiology of colon cancer mice and contribute to the understanding of the possible mechanisms involved.