Akinwumi Kazeem Akinyinka & Adegbola Oluwatosin Oluwabukola

Colorectal cancer is one of the most frequently encountered malignant tumors and a major cause of cancerrelated death worldwide. Eighty male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into eight groups of ten rats each and treated with 5mg/kg body weight BCP; 10mg/kg body weight BCP; 0.5mg/kg body weight MFP; and20mg/kg body weight of DMH either alone or in combination. The control rats were administered with distilled water. The BCP was orally administered daily, while oral administration of MFP was done thrice in a week throughout the twenty-week duration of the experiment. The DMH was also injected (i.m) once weekly. The impact of the treatment on body weight, hematology and gross histology were assessed following treatment. The rats treated with DMH only had declined body weight, Packed Cell Volume and Lymphocyte. In contrast, white blood cell count and neutrophils were increased in the same group. Swollen colon, cyst, were also observed in the DMH-treated rat. Co-treatment with the two doses of BCP or MFP countered and reversed gross histological and hematological alterations towards that of the control. Therefore, the result of this study suggest that β-caryophyllene and mifepristone has chemopreventive potentials for the prevention of colon cancer. KEYWORDS: Colon cancer, 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine, β-caryophylene, mifepristone, chemopreventive potential 0150