Inhibition of carcinogenicities of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine and azoxymethane by pyrazole.

Inhibitory effects of pyrazole on the carcinogenicities of 2 large-bowel carcinogens, 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) and azoxymethane (AOM), were examined, because our previous study revealed that pyrazole completely inhibited the induction of mutations by these carcinogens in the host-mediated mutation assay. ICR male mice were treated subcutaneously once a week for 20 weeks either with DMH or with AOM. Pyrazole was given orally to mice 2 h before treatment with the carcinogen. Pathological examinations were conducted 36 weeks after the first treatment. Treatment with DMH or AOM alone induced colorectal and/or anal tumorigenic lesions in 92% (23/25) mice of the DMH group and 100% (22/22) mice of the AOM group. By contrast, none of the animals in the combined treatment groups (carcinogen + pyrazole) developed those tumors. On the other hand, 50% (13/26) of mice treated with DMH alone and 78% (18/23) of mice treated with AOM alone developed vascular tumors. Pretreatment of mice with pyrazole reduced the percentage of mice bearing this type of tumor to about 30% of that in the carcinogen group with either carcinogen. These results clearly show that pyrazole has the ability to inhibit carcinogenicities of DMH and AOM, especially for the colorectum and anus, and indicate that the inhibition studies of mutation induction in vivo provide a useful tool for the screening for inhibitors of the carcinogenicities of DMH and AOM.