Figure 1

Ginseng inhibits colitis and colonic tumorigenesis in mice on Western diet. A. Protocol for tumor induction. Mice received AOM at wk 2. WD was initiated at wk 4 and DSS was given beginning in wk 5. Mice were sacrificed in wk 14. B. Time course of DSS colitis. Animals were treated as shown in Figure 1A. DSS induced colitis was scored as disease activity index (DAI) based on weight loss, diarrhea and bleeding as described [38]. Values were expressed as mean ± SD (n = 7 AOM/DSS, n = 5 AOM/DSS + ginseng; *p < 0.05, compared to Western diet alone). Ginseng significantly delayed onset of colitis and appeared to limit peak inflammation. C. Tumor multiplicity. Mice were treated as described in Figure. 1A and sacrificed 12 wks after AOM. Tumor histology was determined by standard criteria. Tumor multiplicity was calculated using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test (n = 7 AOM/DSS, n = 5 AOM/DSS + ginseng; *p < 0.05 compared to AOM/DSS alone). Note that ginseng significantly inhibited total tumor multiplicity and the number of adenomas/mouse. D. Colonoscopy detects colitis and tumors. Shown are representative colonoscopic views of control mice (left panel), mice with colitis 5 days after DSS (middle panel) and mice with tumors 12 wks after AOM (right panel). Note the increased mucosal erythema in the colitis-bearing mouse and intraluminal mass in the tumor-bearing mouse (black arrows).