Comparison of the effects of cinnamyl anthranilate on hepatic peroxisome proliferation and cell replication in the rat and mouse.

The effects of cinnamyl anthranilate (CA) have been compared in female B6C3F1 mice and female F344 rats fed diets containing 0-3.0% CA for periods of 1, 4, and 13 weeks. In the mouse, treatment with CA at all time points produced a marked dose-dependent increase in relative liver weight and hepatic peroxisome proliferation as demonstrated by the induction of peroxisomal (cyanide-insensitive palmitoyl-CoA oxidation) and microsomal (lauric acid 12-hydroxylase) fatty acid oxidizing enzyme activities. CA produced only small increases in relative liver weight and palmitoyl-CoA oxidation in the rat and did not induce lauric acid 12-hydroxylase activity. Replicative DNA synthesis was studied by implanting osmotic pumps containing 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine during Study Weeks 0-1, 3-4, and 12-13. After 1 week of CA treatment, labeling index values were increased in rat and to a greater extent in mouse hepatocytes. While CA treatment for 4 and 13 weeks did not increase hepatocyte-labeling index values in the rat, a sustained stimulation of replicative DNA synthesis was observed at some dietary levels in the mouse. These results demonstrate a marked species difference between the hepatic effects of CA in female B6C3F1 mice and female F344 rats. While CA is a potent peroxisome proliferator in the mouse, it is only a very weak agent in the rat. The formation of liver tumors in long-term studies, at high doses of CA, appears to be attributable to a sustained stimulation of both peroxisome proliferation and cell replication in mouse hepatocytes.