This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lans, J. I. Articles by Majumdar, A. P. N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lans, J. I. Articles by Majumdar, A. P. N.

Supplemental Calcium Suppresses Colonic Mucosal Ornithine Decarboxylase Activity in Elderly Patients with Adenomatous Polyps¹

Veterans Administration Medical Center, Allen Park, Michigan 48101 [R. J., J. T., A. P. N. M.]; Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48201 [J. I. L., R. J., G. D. L., A. P. N. M.]; and Division of Gastroenterology, Henry Ford Hospital [F. L. A.], and Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202 [A. P. N. M.]

Epidemiological and animal studies suggest a role for calcium in the chemoprevention of colorectal neoplasia. This study was designed to investigate whether supplemental oral calcium has a suppressant effect on colonic mucosal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and tyrosine kinase activities in patients with adenomatous polyps or a history of adenomatous polyps and whether this is affected by age. ODC and tyrosine kinase activities were measured in rectal mucosal biopsies of 19 male patients (age, years 46–85 years; mean, 66 years) with adenomatous polyps or a history of adenomatous polyps before and after 1 week of calcium supplementation p.o. (CaCO₃; 2500 mg/day) and 2 weeks after cessation of calcium treatment. The basal rectal mucosal ODC activity of patients 64 years old was nearly 4-fold higher than that of patients <64 years old (P < 0.005). In patients 64 years old, there was a significant decrease in rectal mucosal ODC activity following 1 week of calcium p.o. compared to those age <64 years (P < 0.05). Overall tyrosine kinase activity did not differ significantly in either patient group before or after calcium supplementation p.o. However, the concentration of phosphotyrosine membrane proteins with molecular weights between 40,000 and 60,000 and between 80,000 and 100,000 were suppressed in patients age 64 years after 1 week of calcium treatment p.o. These patients also had a corresponding decrease in their rectal mucosal ODC activity. Alternatively, patients whose ODC was not affected by calcium showed no apparent change in the relative concentration of rectal mucosal phosphotyrosine membrane proteins. Our data indicate that there is an age-related increase in basal rectal mucosal ODC activity in patients with adenomatous polyps which can be suppressed with calcium supplementation p.o., suggesting a role for dietary calcium in the chemoprevention of colorectal neoplasia.

¹ Supported in part by the Veterans Administration Research Service. This paper was presented in part at the American Gastroenterological Association Meeting, San Antonio, TX, May 1990.

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Department of Gastroenterology (111C1), Veterans Administration Medical Center, Allen Park, M1 48101.

Received 10/ 3/90. Accepted 4/23/91.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. M. Hess, M. F. Krutzsch, J. Guillen, H-H. S. Chow, J. Einspahr, A.K. Batta, G. Salen, M. E. Reid, D. L. Earnest, and D. S. Alberts Results of a Phase I Multiple-Dose Clinical Study of Ursodeoxycholic Acid Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., May 1, 2004; 13(5): 861 - 867. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. S. Alberts, J. G. Einspahr, D. L. Earnest, M. F. Krutzsch, P. Lin, L. M. Hess, D. K. Heddens, D. J. Roe, M. E. Martinez, G. Salen, et al. Fecal Bile Acid Concentrations in a Subpopulation of the Wheat Bran Fiber Colon Polyp Trial Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., March 1, 2003; 12(3): 197 - 200. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. R. Holt Dairy Foods and Prevention of Colon Cancer: Human Studies J. Am. Coll. Nutr., October 1, 1999; 18(90005): 379S - 391. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. LIPKIN Preclinical and Early Human Studies of Calcium and Colon Cancer Prevention Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., January 1, 1999; 889(1): 120 - 127. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]