Dose response of saccharin in induction of urinary bladder hyperplasias in Fischer 344 rats pretreated with N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine.

Studies were made on the dose response of saccharin in the induction of bladder lesions. Inbred F344 rats of both sexes were pretreated with 100 ppm N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (BBN) in the drinking water for 4 weeks. Sodium saccharin was given at 50,000, 10,000, 2,000, and 400 ppm in the diet for 32 weeks after BBN administration, and surviving rats were killed at the end of week 36 of the experiment. No increase in incidence of papilloma or cancer was noted in either sex at any dose of saccharin after BBN as compared to levels induced by BBN alone. The incidences of two types of hyperplasia and average number of papillary or nodular hyperplasias per 10 cm of basement membrane were significantly increased in the group receiving 50,000 ppm saccharin as compared to the group given BBN only. None of the incidences or numbers of these lesions were significantly different in any of the other saccharin-treated groups when compared to the group treated with BBN alone except for the incidences of two types of hyperplasias in the female rats dosed with 10,000 ppm saccharin. Dose-response curves showed enhanced hyperplastic responses in both sexes given 2,000--50,000 ppm saccharin. Administration of various doses of saccharin without BBN did not cause any changes in the urinary bladders of rats of either sex. These results show that saccharin enhances the induction of early-stage bladder lesions and that the biologic response demonstrates a dose-response effect.