Tumour incidence in the progeny of male rats exposed to ethylnitrosourea before mating.

BDVI male rats were given a single i.p. dose of 80 mg/kg b.w. ethylnitrosourea (ENU), and each rat was then mated at weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 after treatment with 3 untreated females. A decrease in the fecundity of the treated males was observed, particularly when they were mated 5 weeks after ENU treatment. The average litter size was lower in the treated group, especially for females mated in week 4. No significant differences in pre- or post-weaning mortality were noted between control and treated groups. A slight, non-significant increase in the incidence of brain tumours was observed in the progeny of treated males compared with the controls. The incidence of thyroid tumours was significantly higher in controls but this difference disappeared when adjustment was made for litter effect and intralitter dependence.