TUMORIGENIC ACTIVITY OF BENZO(E)PYRENE DERIVATIVES ON MOUSE SKIN AND IN NEWBORN MICE

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 40  (2) , 203-206
Abstract
The tumorigenic activities of benzo(a)pyrene and several of its derivatives were determined in 2 mouse tumor models. Newborn Swiss-Webster mice were given i.p. injections of 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 .mu.mol of compound of the 1st, 8th and 15th day of life, respectively. When the mice were 62-66 wk old, the experiment was terminated by killing the animals. Benzo(e)pyrene, trans-4,5-dihydroxy-4,5-dihydrobenzo(e)pyrene and trans-9,10-dihydroxy-9,10-dihydrobenzo(e)pyrene had little or no tumorigenic activity in lung tissue, although trans-9,10-dihydroxy-9,10-dihydrobenzo(e)pyrene did induce a significant number of hepatic tumors. The tumor-initiating activities of benzo(e)pyrene and several of its derivatives were determined on the skin of female CD-1 mice. A single topical application of 1.0-6.0 .mu.mol of the test compound was followed 7 days later by twice-weekly applications of the tumor promoter 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate for 35 wk. Control mice and mice treated with 6.0 .mu.mol of benzo(e)pyrene, trans-4,5-dihydroxy-4,5-dihydrobenzo(e)pyrene, trans-9,10-dihydroxy-9,10-dihydrobenzo(e)pyrene, and trans-9,10-dihydroxy-9,10,11,12-tetrahydrobenzo(e)pyrene had a tumor incidence of < 20% and had .ltoreq. 0.25 papillomas/mouse. 9,10-Dihydrobenzo(e)pyrene was the only derivative tested that had significant tumor-initiating activity on mouse skin; an initiating dose of 2.5 .mu.mol gave a 67% tumor incidence and 1.43 papillomas/mouse.