Effects of the interaction of dietary fat and protein on N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine-induced carcinogenesis and spontaneous lesions in Syrian golden hamsters.

Syrian golden hamsters were fed four diets in experiments designed to evaluate the effects of the interaction of dietary fat and protein on carcinogenesis induced by N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine [(BOP) CAS: 60599-38-4]. The diets consisted of two levels of dietary fat [4.5 g (low fat, LF) or 18 g (high fat, HF) of corn oil/385 kilocalories (kcal)]. These levels were fed with each of two levels of dietary protein [9 g low-protein (LP) and 36 g high-protein (HP) casein/385 kcal]. The four diets were fed to two separate groups of hamsters at two different periods in their life-span. For testing of the effects of diet on tumor initiation, one group received the diets from 3 to 7 weeks of age. At 8 weeks, they were given injections sc of 10 mg BOP/kg body weight and placed on a control diet [9 g corn oil (medium fat) and 18 g casein (medium protein)/385 kcal]. The other group received control diet until 8 weeks of age, at which time they were given injections of BOP and placed on the four diets. This group was designed to test the effects of the diets on tumor development. BOP-induced lesions in the lungs, liver, common bile duct, gallbladder, and kidneys are described; results in the pancreas were reported separately. In hamsters fed the four diets after BOP treatment, the LF-LP groups had the fewest tumors, the LF-HP-fed and HF-LP-fed groups had intermediate yields of tumors, and the hamsters given HF-HP diet exhibited the largest numbers of neoplasms. Several specific tumor types showed a similar pattern. For example, the pulmonary adenoma incidence, which was low in the non-BOP-treated hamsters, was higher in the HF-HP group than in those fed LF-HP diet after BOP, but it was not influenced by fat at the LP level. In addition, renal adenomas were observed at a low incidence in non-BOP-treated hamsters and in hamsters fed LF-LP levels before or after BOP treatment (0.5% incidence) but were present at an 8% incidence in all other BOP-treated groups. The incidence of biliary cystic adenomas was highest in male hamsters that received HF diets, irrespective of BOP treatment, and BOP treatment resulted in increased yields of this lesion in females only in groups given HF-LP diet.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)