31P NMR study of the impact of dietary manipulation on tumor metabolism and response to methotrexate.

Abstract

The effects of nutritional manipulation and subsequent chemotherapeutic treatment upon growth and metabolism of a transplanted rat rhabdomyosarcoma were investigated by in vivo 31P NMR spectroscopy. Nutritional manipulation was accomplished by administration of a protein deprived diet containing no protein and 75.5% glucose. After 5 days the protein deprived rats (PD rats) were nutritionally replenished with a normal protein diet containing 27% protein and 47.3% glucose. Twenty-four hours after nutritional replenishment the PD rats and continuously well-fed controls (NP rats) received methotrexate (MTX, 30 mg/kg, i.p.). 31P NMR spectroscopy of the tumors 24 h after MTX administration showed a decreased ratio of nucleoside triphosphates to inorganic phosphate (referred to as 'ATP/Pi ratio') in PD rats in contrast to an unchanged ATP/Pi ratio in the NP controls. At the time of MTX administration the PD rats had a significantly lower tumor pH than the NP group (6.75 +/- 0.03 [SEM] vs 6.95 +/- 0.04; p less than 0.02). Tumor response in the PD group was significantly (p less than 0.01) enhanced compared to the NP group. These findings indicate that a period of dietary protein deprivation combined with a high glucose load and followed by nutritional replenishment impairs tumor metabolism. The altered metabolic status is expressed by acidification of the tumor and distinct changes in ATP/Pi ratio and appears to relate to an enhanced susceptibility to MTX chemotherapy.