Chemopreventive effects of a low-side-effect antibiotic drug, erythromycin, on mouse intestinal tumors.

It is important to establish effective methods for preventing colorectal cancer because the number of colorectal cancer deaths is increasing. Erythromycin one of the macrolide antibiotics, has been shown to exert pleiotropic effects, such as anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects, on mammalian cells. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the preventive effects of erythromycin on intestinal carcinogenesis. We first confirmed that erythromycin suppresses the transcriptional activity of nuclear factor-κB and activator protein-1 and the expression of its downstream targets, interleukin-6 and cyclooxygenase-2 in human colon cancer cells. Next, we fed 5-week-old male