Inhibition by N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide and all-trans-retinoic acid of exogenous and endogenous development of putative preneoplastic, glutathione S-transferase placental form-positive lesions in the livers of rats.

Abstract

The effects of N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (4-HPR) and all-trans-retinoic acid (tRA) on the exogenous and endogenous models of rat liver carcinogenesis respectively using diethylnitrosamine (DEN) and a choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined (CDAA) diet were studied. For the exogenous study, male Fischer 344 rats, 6 weeks old, were given a single i.p. dose of 200 mg/kg body wt of DEN, partially hepatectomized at week 3, administered 4-HPR at doses of 0, 0.04, 0.08 and 0.16% or tRA at 0, 0.004, 0.008 and 0.015% in diet from week 2 for 6 weeks, and killed at the end of week 8. For the endogenous study, rats were fed the CDAA diet containing 4-HPR or tRA for 12 weeks and killed at the end of week 12. 4-HPR decreased the numbers and sizes of the glutathione S-transferase placental form-positive foci, assayed as putative preneoplastic lesions, the levels of 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OHG), a parameter of oxidative DNA damage, and the bromodeoxyuridine labeling indices (BrdU L.I.) by all three doses in the DEN-initiated case and, more prominently, in the CDAA diet-associated case. In contrast, while tRA failed to exert inhibitory effects apparently on foci development, 8-OHG formation or BrdU labeling in the DEN-initiated case, it reduced the numbers and sizes of the foci, the 8-OHG levels and the BrdU L.I. by all three doses in the CDAA diet-associated case. Furthermore, both 4-HPR and tRA inhibited the CDAA diet-associated induction of hepatocyte necrosis and connective tissue increase but not intrahepatocellular fat accumulation. These results indicate that 4-HPR exerts chemopreventive effects against the exogenous and endogenous rat liver carcinogenesis, while tRA can inhibit only the latter.