Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins

, Volume 11, Issue 3, pp 857–864 | Cite as

More Protection of Lactobacillus acidophilus Than Bifidobacterium bifidum Probiotics on Azoxymethane-Induced Mouse Colon Cancer

  • Shahram Agah
  • Ali Mohammad AlizadehEmail author
  • Maryam Mosavi
  • Peyman Ranji
  • Hossein Khavari-Daneshvar
  • Farnaz Ghasemian
  • Sahar Bahmani
  • Abbas Tavassoli


Based on the ability of the probiotics in the gut microflora modification, they can have the beneficial effects on diseases in the short and/or the long term. In previous study, we revealed that unlike Bifidobacterium bifidum, the amount of Lactobacillus acidophilus remained almost unchanged in mice gut microflora in the long term, indicating more stability of L. acidophilus than B. bifidum which can be used to prevent some incurable diseases such as cancer. Thirty-eight male BALB/c mice were divided into four groups, control, azoxymethane (AOM), L. acidophilus, and B. bifidum probiotics, to evaluate the protective effects of the probiotics on AOM-induced mouse colon cancer. Except for the control group, the rest of the animals were weekly given AOM (15 mg/kg, s.c) in three consecutive weeks. Colon lesion incidence was 74% in the AOM group in comparison with the control (0%) (P < 0.05). The lesions were varied from mild to severe dysplasia and colonic adenocarcinoma. Administration of the probiotics inhibited the incidence of colonic lesions by about 57% in L. acidophilus (P < 0.05) and 27% in B. bifidum (P > 0.05) compared to the AOM group. The serum levels of CEA and CA19-9 tumor markers were significantly decreased in L. acidophilus in comparison with the AOM group (P < 0.05). Moreover, the serum levels of IFN-γ and IL-10 and the number of CD4+ and CD8+ cells were significantly increased in L. acidophilus compared to AOM (P < 0.05). Our study highlighted the more potential effects of L. acidophilus probiotic than B. bifidum on mouse colon cancer.


Lactobacillus acidophilus Bifidobacterium bifidum Probiotics Gut microflora Colon cancer Mice 



This study was supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Grant Number: 17733) and Iran University of Medical Sciences (Grant Number: 18890).

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Ethical Approval


Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.


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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Colorectal Research CenterIran University of Medical SciencesTehranIran
  2. 2.Cancer Research CenterTehran University of Medical SciencesTehranIran
  3. 3.Department of Biology, Science and Research BranchIslamic Azad UniversityTehranIran
  4. 4.Research and Development DepartmentZist Takhmir CompanyTehranIran
  5. 5.Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary MedicineTehran UniversityTehranIran

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