Background: Advanced glycation end products (AGE) and the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) are closely associated with colorectal cancer progression. The association between RAGE and AGE in colon carcinogenesis needs to be clarified.
Methods: Levels of RAGE and AGE were examined in azoxymethane (AOM)-injected Fischer 344 rats fed a control diet (Group C), a 15 % linoleic acid (LA) diet (Group L), a control diet with 10 % glucose drink (Group G), and a 15 % LA diet with 10 % glucose drink (Group L + G). Group L + G showed the most pronounced increase of body weight, blood sugar, and serum insulin.
Results: The rats in Group L + G showed the most pronounced multiplicity of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and carcinomas with increased mucosal RAGE and AGE. IEC6 rat intestinal epithelial cells treated with AGE showed increased RAGE expression, which was inhibited by treatment with metformin or losartan. In the AOM-injected rat colon cancer model, the levels of RAGE and AGE, and the multiplicity of ACF and carcinomas, in Group L + G rats were suppressed by treatment with metformin or losartan.
Conclusions: These results suggest that AGE-RAGE induced by high-LA and high-glucose diets substantially enhances colon cancer development; thus, suppression of AGE-RAGE could be a potential target for colon cancer chemoprevention.