RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE NUMBERS OF ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN-CONTAINING OVAL CELLS IN THE LIVER OF RATS FED N-2-FLUORENYLACETAMIDE IN A CHOLINE-DEVOID DIET

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 72  (4) , 479-487
Abstract
Fischer rats, fed 0.05% w/w N-2-fluorenylacetamide in a choline-devoid diet for 2 wk, develop a massive infiltration of the liver by small oval cells. This occurs rapidly 1 wk after feeding the diet for 2 wk. All rats fed choline-devoid diet die within 5 wk, with massive oval cell infiltration of the liver. Although similar changes occur in rats fed N-2-fluorenylacetamide in a choline-supplemented diet, their degree is much less. In rats fed a choline-devoid diet without N-2-fluorenylacetamide, proliferation of hepatocytes, but not of oval cells, is observed. Because the carcinogen-enhancing effects of choline-devoid diets seem to exceed those of partial hepatectomy, such diets may work by causing changes distinct from those induced by partial hepatectomy. Many oval cells contain .alpha.-fetoprotein and the rapid oval cell increase in associated with an exponential increase in serum .alpha.-fetoprotein concentration. A cellular change, not an alteration of gene expression in parenchymal cells, is the primary cause of hyper-alphafetoproteinemia during the course of chemical carcinogenesis in rats.