Effect of pyridoxine on the growth of Morris hepatoma No. 7288Ctc and enzyme activity.

The effect(s) of lack of dietary pyridoxine (PX) on the growth of Morris hepatoma no. 7288Ctc was studied. Buffalo strain female rats were fed a diet lacking PX. Pair-fed controls were fed the same diet with PX added. Animals were inoculated with no. 7288Ctc hepatoma cells at 21 days and were sacrificed 16 days later. Host livers and tumors were removed, weights recorded and the activity of tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT; L-tyrosine: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase, EC 2.6.1.5) was determined in both host liver and hepatoma. The average weight of 30 hepatomas grown in pair-fed control rats was 11.61 +/- 1.5 g while the average weight of the same number of hepatomas grown in animals fed the PX free diet was 4.73 +/- 0.7 g (P less than 0.001). Further TAT specific activity levels were 39% and 32% higher in host livers and tumors from deficient animals, respectively. The results show that availability of dietary pyridoxine stimulates the growth of this hepatoma and, in addition, exercises a type of control over the expression of TAT activity.