Date of Award:
12-2021
Document Type:
Dissertation
Degree Name:
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department:
Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences
Committee Chair(s)
Korry J. Hintze
Committee
Korry J. Hintze
Committee
Jeffery Hall
Committee
Mirella Meyer-Ficca
Committee
Robert E. Ward
Committee
Dirk Vanderwall
Abstract
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the US and risk is on the rise for both middle aged and young adults. Although the Western dietary pattern is responsible for the majority of colorectal cancer incidence, Americans routinely consume highly processed foods that are rich in calories yet lacking essential nutrients. Many foods, like green tea, contain components that promote health and fight disease. Recent findings suggest that lifestyle factors, including nutrition, may also impact future generations of offspring and change the way genes function in our cells, without changes the genes themselves. We hypothesized that ancestral exposure to a Western diet would promote colorectal cancer in great-grand offspring that would be reversed by green tea extract supplementation and that these health outcomes would be reflected by the expression of genes related to cancer. To explore this, we fed mice a Western diet during all four generations (cumulative), only the fourth generation (direct), or only the first generation (transgenerational) and compared them to those that consumed a healthy control diet during all four generations. The fourth generation were provided either green tea extract or plain drinking water. Transgenerational Western diet exposure increased colorectal cancer occurrence and dysregulated a number of genes related to immune function and inflammation. This outcome was worsened by cumulative Western diet intake and occurred without affecting body weight or fat mass. Green tea extract reduced the number and size of tumors in all Western diet groups. This study is the first to investigate how diet induced transgenerational inheritance affects colorectal cancer outcome. Our findings suggest that we may be at the mercy of our ancestor’s dietary choices, however, dietary interventions with health promoting foods may provide protection against disease.
Checksum
bf57aa30ecfaf563ea75cd32112a124d
Recommended Citation
Phatak, Sumira, "Promotion of Colon Tumorigenesis in C57BL/6J Mice Following Multigenerational or Ancestral Exposure to the Total Western Diet and Intervention With Green Tea Extract" (2021). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023. 8360.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/8360
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