Thyroid and chemical hepatocarcinogenesis: further insights from the hepatocarcinogen ZAMI 1305.

The beta-blocker DL-1-(2-nitro-3-methyl-phenoxy)-3-tert-butylaminopropan-2-ol (ZAMI 1305), oncogenic to the liver of the female but not of the male Wistar rat, was used to investigate some aspects of the relationship between liver and thyroid during chemical hepatocarcinogenesis. Thyroidectomy (TDX) strongly reduces the amount of hepatic DNA damage induced by a single administration of ZAMI 1305 in the female Wistar rat. One week of treatment with triiodothyronine (T3) completely restores the susceptibility of the liver of thyroidectomized animals to the genotoxic activity of the molecule. The amount of hepatic DNA damage in intact females varies with the age of the animal, being maximal in rats of 4-8 weeks of age, when T3 serum concentration are also maximal. An increase of relative thyroid weight, coupled with histological hyperplasia of the gland, is observed in female Wistar rats treated for 6 months with ZAMI 1305. Minimal changes of the thyroid are observed in ZAMI 1305-treated male rats. The increase of relative thyroid weight in female rats appears to be related to the severity of preneoplastic and neoplastic liver changes. These findings and several suggestions from the literature lead us to propose a model for the interaction between liver and thyroid during chemical hepatocarcinogenesis.