Polyamine responses in a solid transplanted tumor (S180) in liver and in urine during endotoxin-induced tumor injury in the mouse.

Polyamine (PA) and ATP concentrations have been measured in the S180 sarcoma damaged by endotoxin (1) 4 hours after administration, coinciding with the onset of hemorrhage, (2) at 8 hours, and (3) at 24 hours, preceeding overt necrosis. The putrescine (PU) content increased promptly, the spermidine (SPD) level dropped by 30% between 8 and 24 hours, while the spermine (SPM) concentration remained unchanged. The ATP level fell, reaching 1% of the control value at 24 hours. The parallel between increases in tumor PU content and urinary PU excretion appears to be largely fortuitous; no similar correlations existed in the cases of SPD and SPM. The development of tumor stasis and the alterations seen in PA metabolism of tumor-free controls suggest that the changes in liver PA concentrations and in urinary excretion primarily reflect responses of nonmalignant cells. Both these findings in animals without tumors and existing data from other experimental systems are consistent with the thesis that PA response patterns to a particular procedure are qualitatively similar regardless of the presence or absence of a malignant growth, and are characteristic of the procedure employed.