Tumour Incidence, Growth, Reproduction and Longevity in Female C3H Mice Fed Polyunsaturated Ruminant-Derived Foodstuffs

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Abstract
Earlier studies with the random-bred Quackenbush mouse strain showed that human-type diets based on linoleic acid-enriched foodstuffs derived from ruminants fed protected polyunsaturated oils have no detrimental effects on growth, reproduction or longevity. Tumor incidence and time of onset of tumor development were studied in the inbred, tumor-prone mouse strain C3H, in addition to growth, reproduction and longevity. Mice were fed a polyunsaturated human diet, a conventional human diet or mouse cubes. The results with C3H mice tended to confirm those with Quackenbush strain mice.sbd.growth rates and reproductive productivities were very similar in the 2 groups eating human diets. Mice on the conventional human diet tended to survive better to about 60 wk of age than mice on the polyunsaturated diet or the cube diet, after which the mortality rates of the mice on the 3 diets were similar. The degree of unsaturation of the dietary fat had no significant effect on the incidence of tumors. The tumor incidence was about 40% which, taken in conjunction with the average age of onset (about 80 wk), suggested that the NIV virus rather than the MMTV virus was responsible. It would appear that the high-fat human diets had no effect on the incidence of mammary tumors caused by this virus.