Utilization of blood analyses to evaluate metabolic changes in control and 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-treated adult male fischer rats.

The synthetic compound 1,2-dimethylhydrazine is employed in carcinogenesis studies because of its reliable and specific ability to produce colon tumors in rodents. Male Fischer rats were treated at 7 weeks of age with a single oral dose of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (35 mg/kg) and examined at autopsy 1.5 years later when the incidence of colon tumors is approximately 80%. Blood from control and 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-treated animals was taken at autopsy for routine hematoplazia analysis and for biochemical analysis with the Sequential Multiple Analyzer Computer multitest system. The results indicate that the induction of tumors with a single oral dose of this carcinogen is associated with statistically significant changes in the serum levels of some clinically useful metabolic parameters. Clinically significant changes in the serum chemistry were increases in the creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and albumin/globulin values without an increase in the total serum protein. The multitest system has not been previously employed to evaluate the blood chemistry profiles of tumor-bearing animals and, thus, this study provides an illustration of the potential for this technique to evaluate metabolic changes associated with exposure to carcinogens.