[Growth-stimulating action of nitroso compounds on organ cultures of mouse and rat embryonic liver].

Transplacental and direct effects of nitroso-methylurea (NMU) on the organ cultures of the liver of 18-20-day embryos of CBA and C57BL mice and the action of diethylnitroso-amine on the embryo liver cultures of noninbred rats were studied. Nitroso-compounds acclerated explant adaptation, enhanced the culture survival as compared with the normal and induced hyperplastic proliferation of small basophilic cells, whose survival in the experiment and under normal conditions was higher than that in the normal embryonal hepatocytes. The growth-stimulating effect depended on the animal species and strain and on the carcinogen, as weel as on the route of administration.