| Health / Health News |
Food additives promote inflammation, colon cancer in mice
Scientists at Georgia State University investigated whether dietary emulsifiers might affect the risk for colorectal cancer by altering the gut microbiota.
Mice fed dietary emulsifiers in their drinking water (right) showed higher levels of intestinal cell death (green stain) than mice given plain water (left). 
Scientists previously found that mice fed low levels of common dietary emulsifiers developed altered gut microbiota and a thinned mucus barrier protecting the lining of their intestines. The mice also developed low-grade intestinal inflammation and metabolic syndrome—a group of conditions that increase the risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Intestinal inflammation is a known risk factor for colorectal cancer.
The team fed mice standard chow and either plain drinking water or water with 1% of the commonly used dietary emulsifiers carboxymethylcellulose or polysorbate-80. This dose was designed to model the diets of people who eat large amounts of processed foods.
The team found that mice fed the emulsifiers had less gut microbiota diversity and increased levels of inflammatory molecules. The intestinal epithelial cells of mice fed the emulsifiers also had higher levels of both cell death and proliferation. Increased cell turnover is known to play a role in tumor development.
When the scientists fed emulsifiers to germ-free mice, which don’t have gut microbiota, these effects didn’t appear. This finding suggests that the effects of the emulsifiers were caused by altering the gut microbiota. When gut microbes from emulsifier-fed mice were transferred into germ-free mice that hadn’t been fed emulsifiers, the germ-free mice developed some of the abnormalities.
Our digestive tracts are home to trillions of microbes, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. This microbial community, collectively known as the gut microbiota, plays a role in illness and health. Changes in these microbes have been associated with several diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Dietary emulsifiers, which are chemically similar to detergents, are added to many processed foods to improve texture and extend shelf life. (National Institutes of Health)
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