Relationship of urinary N-butyl-N-(3-carboxypropyl)nitrosamine to susceptibility of animals to bladder carcinogenesis by N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine.

A simple and sensitive procedure is described for the quantitative determination of N-butyl-N-(3-carboxypropyl)nitrosamine (BCPN), the principal metabolite of the bladder carcinogen N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (BHBN-4), in urine. BCPN was analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography as its methyl ester after extraction with ethyl acetate from urine followed by esterification with diazomethane. Species and strain variations in susceptibility to bladder carcinogenesis induced by BHBN-4 are discussed in relation to the urinary excretions of BCPN, determined by the new procedure, after oral administration of the compound to rats (4 strains), mice, hamsters, and guinea pigs at a dose approximately equal to the daily dose used in chronic carcinogenicity assay.