Effect of food restriction, dehydroepiandrosterone, or obesity on the binding of 3H-7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene to mouse skin DNA.

This study was undertaken to determine whether a reduction in body weight in laboratory mice by regimens that appear to delay the rate of aging (i.e., food restriction and chronic dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) treatment), or a production of obesity by the presence of the ob (obese) gene or by gold thioglucose-induced hyperphagia alter the rate of binding of 3H-7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (3H-DMBA) to mouse skin deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). We have found that treating A/J mice with food containing .6% DHEA for 10 weeks or reducing the food intake of non-DHEA treated mice to 60% of ad libitum fed animals significantly reduces the amount of 3H-DMBA bound to mouse skin DNA 12 hours after a topical application of the carcinogen. Conversely, A/J mice made obese by a gold thioglucose-induced hyperphagia and C57BL/6J mice with the ob mutation bind significantly increased amounts of 3H-DMBA to skin DNA when compared to their nonobese counterparts.