Preferential Accumulation of Iron in Hyperplastic Tissue of Rat Mammary Gland

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Abstract
Quantitative measurements of the Fe contents of various rat mammary tissues (normal, hyperplastic and tumor) revealed that hyperplastic tissues contained significantly more Fe than normal and tumor tissues. Normal mammary glands from virgin, pregnant, lactating and retired breeder rats had an Fe content ranging from 21-73 .mu.g/100 mg dry wt (.hivin.X (mean) = 43), while that of primary and transplantable DMBA[7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene]-induced mammary tumors ranged from 31-52 .mu.g/100 mg dry wt (.hivin.X = 38). The Fe content of hyperplastic mammary tissue, both DMBA-induced and spontaneous, was 139-204 .mu.g/100 mg dry wt (.hivin.X = 176). In addition to their previously reported growth alterations, rat mammary hyperplasias are also physiologically altered from normal in their sequestering of Fe. Although the mechanisms involved are unknown, this property should provide a useful quantitative index for in vivo assays of mammary hyperplasias induced in vitro.