Failure of phenethyl isothiocyanate to inhibit hamster tumorigenesis induced by N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine when given during the post-initiation phase.

The chemopreventive influence of phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) during the post-initiation stage was investigated in the N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine (BOP)-initiated hamster tumorigenesis model. A total of 120 female 5-week-old hamsters were divided into six groups. Animals in groups 1-3, each consisting of 30 hamsters, were injected twice, subcutaneously, with BOP 7 days apart to effect initiation. Starting 1 week after the second BOP injection, hamsters in groups 1 and 2 were fed diets supplemented with 6 micromol/g and 3 micromol/g of PEITC, respectively, for 51 weeks. Animals in group 3 received a basal diet as an initiation positive control. Animals in groups 4-6, each consisting of ten hamsters, were given 6 micromol/g or 3 micromol/g of PEITC alone, or were non-treated, matched negative controls for groups 1-3. At the termination of experimental week 52, the incidences and multiplicities of neoplastic lesions in the target organs including the pancreas, lung, liver and kidney were found to be comparable among the BOP-treated groups. The values for pancreatic adenocarcinomas as well as dysplastic lesions tended to increase although without statistical significance. Taken together with our previous finding that PEITC dramatically inhibited the initiation phase of BOP-induced pancreatic and lung tumorigenesis in hamsters, it can be concluded that PEITC specifically exerts chemopreventive effects only when given concomitantly with the carcinogen.

Influences of long-term administration of 24R, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, a vitamin D3 derivative, in rats.

In order to examine the influences by long-term feeding of 24R, 25 dihydroxyvitamin D3[24R, 25(OH)2D3], an active form of vitamin D, Wistar rats (14-week-old, male, 20 rats/group) were fed a powder diet containing 0 or 5 ppm 24R, 25(OH)2D3 for 57 weeks. Final body weights and total food consumption were comparable between the groups. Urinary calcium levels were significantly (p < 0.05 or 0.01) increased by the administration of 24R, 25(OH)2D3 at weeks 3, 22 and 56, although the levels of serum calcium did not differ between the groups at the termination of week 57. In the 24R, 25(OH)2D3 group, weights of the adrenals and femurs were significantly (p < 0.01) increased. Histopathologically, this was found due to thickening of cortical bone in the femurs, and medullary hyperplasia and pheochromocytoma of the adrenals. Immunohistochemically, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-labeling indices for intact adrenal medulla, medullary hyperplasia and pheochromocytoma in the 24R, 25(OH)2D3 group were respectively 1.82 +/- 1.21, 5.88 +/- 4.13 and 16, all higher than that for the adrenal medulla in the control group (0.87 +/- 0.67). These results indicate that 24R, 25(OH)2D3 at a dose with which serum calcium is not chronically increased causes thickening of the cortex of the femur, and development of adrenal proliferative lesions, suggesting that rats may be too sensitive for results to be relevant to human risk assessment.