Beef meat and blood sausage promote the formation of azoxymethane-induced mucin-depleted foci and aberrant crypt foci in rat colons

Red meat intake is associated with colon cancer risk. Puzzlingly, meat does not promote carcinogenesis in rat studies. However, we demonstrated previously that dietary heme promotes aberrant crypt foci (ACF) formation in rats given a low-calcium diet. Here, we tested the hypothesis that heme-rich meats promote colon carcinogenesis in rats treated with azoxymethane and fed low-calcium diets (0.8 g/kg). Three meat-based diets were formulated to contain varying concentrations of heme by the addition of raw chicken (low heme), beef (medium heme), or black pudding (blood sausage; high heme). The no-heme control diet was supplemented with ferric citrate and the heme control diet with hemoglobin to match iron and heme concentrations in the beef diet, respectively. After 100 cl, colons were scored for ACF and mucin-depleted foci (MDF). Fecal water was assayed for lipoperoxides and cytotoxicity. Only diets with heme promoted the formation of MDF, but all meat diets promoted ACF formation. The number of MDF/colon was 0.55 +/- 0.68 in controls, but 1.2 +/- 0.6 (P = 0.13), 1.9 +/- 1.4 (P < 0.01), and 3.0 +/- 1.2 (P < 0.001) in chicken-, beef-, and black pudding-fed rats. MDF promotion by the high-heme black pudding diet was greater than that by the medium-heme beef diet. The number of ACF/colon was 72 +/- 16 in controls, but 91 +/- 18, 100 +/- 13, and 103 +/- 14 in chicken-, beef-, and black pudding-fed rats (all P < 0.001). ACF and MDF did not differ between rats fed the beef diet and those fed the heme control diet. MDF promotion was correlated with high fecal water lipoperoxides and cytotoxicity (r = 0.65, P < 0.01). This is the first study to show the promotion of experimental carcinogenesis by dietary meat and the association with heme intake.