Induction of forestomach lesions in rats by oral administrations of naturally occurring antioxidants for 4 weeks.

The effects of naturally occurring antioxidants on rat forestomach epithelium were compared with those of synthetic antioxidants, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), of which the former is a known forestomach carcinogen. Groups of five F344 male rats were given diet containing BHA, BHT, gallic acid, syringic acid, sesamol, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, eugenol or esculin for 4 weeks at a level of 0.7% for BHT or 2% for other compounds. Histological examination of the forestomach showed that BHA induced hyperplasia mainly in the prefundic region near the esophageal orifice, caffeic acid induced pronounced hyperplasia throughout the forestomach epithelium, and sesamol induced large ulcers and hyperplasia in the central region. Thus, these naturally occurring antioxidants showed different toxicities and abilities to induce hyperplasia in the rat forestomach.