Role of Sodium Butyrate in Colon Cancer
What is Sodium Butyrate?
The sodium salt of butyric acid with a chemical formula of Na(C3H7COO) is known for its various effects on cultured mammalian cells including repression or induction of gene expression, induction of differentiation, and inhibition of proliferation is known as sodium butyrate. But I wait can be used in determining histone deacetylene in chromatin structure and function, and in which class 1 histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity, especially HDAC3, HDAC2, and HDAC1, and Butyrate treatment of cells.
The expression of mammalian genes is said to be affected by only 2% due to the inhibition of HDAC activity. Sodium butyrate is usually found as a crystalline water-soluble white-colored solid in laboratories. The unpleasant and strong smell is what makes Sodium Butyrate notable. For safety purposes, respiratory masks, eye protection, and gloves are recommended while working with sodium butyrate. Present in Parmesan cheese and butter, sodium butyrate is found in the human diet which is notably produced in large amounts from dietary fibers in the gut. The consumption of legumes is the most common source of sodium butyrate in the gut.
Health benefits of sodium butyrate
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Health Benefits of Sodium Butyrate
Prevents Gut Inflammation
Butyrate possesses anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help maintain a balanced gut environment. It supports the gut lining by controlling low levels of inflammation, which, if disrupted, can lead to oxidative stress and increase cancer risks. Butyrate inhibits proinflammatory substances, reducing damage from free radicals. Adequate production relies on butyrate-producing bacteria, which thrive on a high-fiber diet.
Exhibits Anti-Cancer Effects
Sodium butyrate stabilizes the gut environment, contributing to the protective benefits of dietary fiber against colorectal cancer. Low fiber intake can reduce butyrate production, impairing colon cell function and increasing cancer risk. By providing energy to colon cells, butyrate supports their health, preventing tumor development and mitigating inflammatory signals linked to cancer.
Strengthens Gut Lining and Prevents Leaky Gut
Butyrate is essential for maintaining a healthy gut lining, which acts as a barrier, allowing nutrients to enter the bloodstream while blocking harmful compounds. It fuels gut cells, ensuring the gut lining’s integrity, which helps prevent leaky gut syndrome. Dietary fibers, fermented by gut microbes, play a vital role in producing this essential compound.
What is Colon Cancer?
Colon cancer is a type of cancer that starts in your colon (large intestine) or rectum. Your colon and rectum are the organs that make up the lower portion of your digestive system. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC, this cancer is popularly known as colorectal cancer.
Most surprisingly, it is the third most common type of cancer in the United States when certain common skin cancers are excluded.
This type of cancer is staged from Stage 0 (earliest stage) to Stage 4 which is the most advanced stage of the disease.
Beginning at the final part of the digestive tract called the colon or the large intestine colon cancer is a type of cancer affecting mostly older adults. However, this type of cancer might happen at any age. On the inside of the colon, clumps of sales known as polyps form, which are initially noncancerous (benign).
Then these polyps transform into cancerous lumps which can cause colon cancer. There are a very minimal number of symptoms that a polyp may produce and these are small in size. Before the formation of colon cancer, identification and removal of polyps is often recommended by doctors with regular screening tests. Immunotherapy targeted therapy and chemotherapy are several drug treatments and radiation therapy that can be used to treat colon cancer along with surgical procedures. A combined term is used to identify colon cancer along with rectal cancer which begins in the rectum and is called colorectal cancer.
Symptoms
Unexplained weight loss, fatigue or weakness, a feeling that an individual’s bowel doesn’t empty, persistent abdominal discomfort which includes pain, gas or cramps, blood in the stool of an individual or rectal bleeding and constipation or diarrhea along with the change in the consistency of an individual stool are some of the symptoms and signs that indicate the presence of colon cancer. Depending on the location and the size of the cancer the symptoms are likely to be noticeable, and in the early stages, there are often no symptoms of colon cancer.
Early stages of Colon Cancer present with:
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Changes in stool color
- Changes in stool shape, such as narrowed stool
- Blood in the stool
- bleeding from the rectum
- Excessive gas
- Abdominal cramps
- Abdominal pain
Later stages of Colon Cancer presents with:
- Excessive fatigue
- Unexplained weakness
- Unintentional weight loss
- Changes in your stool that last longer than a month
- A feeling that your bowels won’t completely empty
- Vomiting
Colon cancer which has metastasized or spread in the body present additionally with:
- Jaundice, or yellow eyes and skin
- Swelling in the hands or feet
- breathing difficulties
- Chronic headaches
- Blurry vision
- bone fractures
Causes
The cause of colon cancer is unknown to doctors in general. However, it might be said that when a healthy cell develops changes or mutations in the DNA, that’s the beginning of colon cancer. There is a set of instructions that is stored inside the DNA of a cell which gives instructions to the cells about their functions. However, damaged DNA can result in cancer cells.
The reservation of cells when the body is in need is the normal function of healthy cells. However, a cell with damaged DNA will continue to divide even when new cells are not needed by the body which will result in the formation of a tumor after the cells accumulate. The nearby tissues are often destroyed by the cancerous cells when they try to grow and invade them.
The deposits known as metastasis are formed when the cancerous cells travel to the other parts of the body. It has been found that VEGF & EGFR over expression, BRAF mutation are associated with an increased incidence along with poor prognosis of Colon Cancer.
Sodium Butyrate and its role in Treating Colon Cancer
The process of Bacterial fermentation is applied on non-digestible dietary fiber in effect producinga short chain fatty acid known as Sodium Butyrate (NaB) and has been observed to be exerting anti-tumor effects on several kinds of tumors including colorectal cancer (CRC), There has been no complete clarification achieved on the role of Thioredoxin-1 (TRX-1) in Sodium Butyrate (NaB) induced antitumor effect. Colony formation assays and Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) have been used to detect the effects of sodium butyrate on the growth of colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines HT29 and SW480. Sodium Butyrate (NaB) is considered to significantly decrease (TRX-1) protein expression and inhibited cell growth in colorectal cancer cells but, not in the normal colon epithelial cells. The down-regulation of TRX-1 is directly related to the antitumor effect of Sodium Butyrate (NaB) according to the studies performed.
If the cancer site is localized to the bowel then the cancer of the colon is highly treatable and curable. A 50% recovery is recorded in the patient with surgery as the primary form of treatment.
The risk of colorectal cancer increases at an old age, i.e. an age above 50. The average age at which an individual is diagnosed with colon cancer for a woman is 72 and that of a man is 68.
Reversible changes are produced in the enzyme activities, growth rate, and morphology of several mammalian cell types in culture by butyrate present in Sodium Butyrate.
Darkening of the skin, dryness, flaking, burning and blistering of the skin, backache, itching, and burning of the skin with pinhead-sized red-colored blisters, facial hair growth in females, fruit-like breath odor, fractures, pain, itching, and burning in the hairy areas and pus at the root of the hair are some of the side effects that might appear with the use of Sodium Butyrate.
The anti-inflammatory effect is the property that gives Sodium Butyrate its unique properties. By reducing the production of proinflammatory cytokines whilst activating anti-inflammatory cells such as M2 macrophages and Tregs, Butyrate inhibits pro-inflammatory immune cells such as M1 neutrophils and macrophages.
High intake of red meat, a low-fiber diet, and a high-fat diet can be a few reasons for colon cancer. Switching to a high-fiber diet is not a proven remedy for colon cancer. Colorectal cancer can be caused by drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes.
The survival rate is 91 percent if colon cancer is diagnosed at a localized stage. The 5-year survival rate is 72 percent if the cancer cells have spread to lymph nodes and/or surrounding organs or tissues. The 5-year survival rate is 14 percent in case of the spread of cancer in distant parts of the body.
The progression will vary according to the cellular makeup of the other factors such as the overall health and age of the patient, and the tumor once cancer has developed in the action. Colon cancer is a serious disease that warrants prompt medical attention even when the general progression of colon cancer tends to be at a slow pace.
Itchy skin, yellowing of the skin which is known as jaundice, and swollen abdomen which are called ascites, weight loss along with poor appetite, feeling sick, and pain or discomfort on the right side of the abdomen are some of the major signs that are noticeable with the spread of colon cancer