Ornithine decarboxylase induction in rat colon: Synergistic effects of intrarectal instillation of sodium deoxycholate and starvation-refeeding

Starvation-refeeding, intrarectal instillation of the suspected colon tumor promoter sodium deoxycholate (NaDOC), and a combination of the treatments were compared for their effects on ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity in the colon of male Sprague-Dawley rats. Starvation (48 hours) and refeeding (12 hours) led to a 5-fold increase in ODC levels compared to ad libitum-fed controls, while NaDOC instillation led to a 3-fold rise. The combination of the two treatments gave a synergistic 16-fold increase over controls. The synergism observed in colon may indicate that the two treatments used act via different mechanisms to induce ODC, possibly by an increase in general macromolecular synthesis after starvation-refeeding and a specific increase in ODC synthesis after NaDOC treatment. Since this starvation-refeeding regimen is quite similar to the 'starve and gorge' feeding pattern exhibited by pair-fed control animals, the use of pair-fed controls may not be appropriate for examining either ODC levels or processes, such as tumor promotion, which may be linked to ODC levels. The synergistic enhancement of tumor promoter-related ODC induction by a dietary pattern (rather than a dietary component) suggests a new area for investigation of potential nutrition-cancer interactions.