Dose-dependent promoting effect of polychlorinated biphenyls on enzyme-altered islands in livers of adult and weanling rats.

The effect of the technical mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) Clophen A 50 on the appearance of enzyme-altered islands initiated by diethylnitrosamine (DEN) in livers of 6 and 3 weeks old female Sprague-Dawley rats was studied. The loss of adenosine-5'-triphosphatase (ATPase), the emergence of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGTase), and the glycogen storage were used as histochemical markers. Islands were initiated by gastric intubation of 12 X 8 mg DEN/kg body weight/day in adults, or with 1 X 8 mg DEN/kg body weight in weanlings. Clophen A 50 alone initiated only few islands. A dose-dependent enhancement in number and area of islands by an additional treatment with Clophen A 50 of DEN-pretreated animals (2-100 mg/kg body weight/weekly, for 7 weeks) was observed in both age groups. In adults, doses between 2 and 100 mg/kg body weight increased number and area of ATPase-deficient islands 2 to 12-fold. In weanlings, application of 10-100 mg/kg body weight resulted in an increase of number and area up to 7- and 12-fold, respectively. No promoting effect was found with 2 mg/kg body weight compared to DEN-treated weanlings. The number of islands with coincidence of the three histochemical markers was enhanced dose-dependently in adults, and less marked also in weanlings after the application of the promoter.