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The long-term toxicity and carcinogenicity of histidine, an essential amino acid for most animal species, were examined in Fischer 344 (F344) rats. Groups of 50 males and 50 females were given L-histidine monohydrochloride (HMHC) in their diet at concentrations of 0 (control), 1.25 and 2.5% for 104 wk; these dose levels were selected on the basis of the results of a subchronic toxicity study, in which body weights were depressed and formation of sperm granulomas in the epididymis was histologically evident in males fed 5.0% HMHC. All surviving rats were killed at wk 107. Increases in red blood cell count, haemoglobin value and haematocrit level were observed in male rats given 2.5% HMHC. A variety of tumours developed in all groups, including the control group, but all the neoplastic lesions were histologically similar to those known to occur spontaneously in this strain of rats, and no statistically significant increase in the incidence of any tumor was found in the treated groups of either sex. Thus, it was concluded that, under the present experimental conditions, HMHC is not carcinogenic in F344 rats.

The effects of administration of low doses of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), a tobacco-specific nitrosamine, were investigated in hamsters treated with N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine (BOP). Female Syrian golden hamsters were given a single sc injection of BOP at a dose of 10 mg/kg and then administered 2 or 5 ppm NNAL in their drinking water for 52 wk. Additional groups of animals received the BOP injection alone, or only the 2 or 5 ppm NNAL treatments as BOP-negative controls. At wk 53 of the experiment, all surviving animals were killed and the development of proliferative lesions was assessed histopathologically. The total incidence of combined carcinomatous and dysplastic lesions of the exocrine pancreas was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the BOP/NNAL 5 ppm group than in the BOP alone group, although there was no statistically significant influence of NNAL on the development of either pancreatic adenocarcinomas or dysplastic lesions viewed singly. The treatments with NNAL alone did not induce any proliferative lesions of the exocrine pancreas. No significant intergroup differences were found in either incidence or multiplicity of islet cell proliferative lesions. Immunohistochemical examination of islet cell proliferative lesions (hyperplasias and adenomas) found in the BOP-treated animals showed no significant differences in pancreatic hormone production between NNAL-treated and -untreated groups. The NNAL treatment did not exert any influence on lung, liver or kidney tumorigenesis. Thus, the results suggest that NNAL enhances BOP-induced exocrine but not endocrine pancreatic tumorigenesis in hamsters when given in the post-initiation phase.

Short-term assays in vivo have suggested that hickory smoke condensate (HSC), a food flavouring, might have tumour-initiating and/or promoting activities in the glandular stomach of the rat. In the present study, the modifying effects of HSC on glandular stomach carcinogenesis after initiation with N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and sodium chloride (MNNG salt) were investigated in male Wistar rats. Animals were given MNNG solution (100 ppm) as drinking water and simultaneously fed the diet supplemented with 5% sodium chloride for 8 wk. Matched negative controls received neither MNNG nor sodium chloride. Rats were then fed a basal diet and given HSC solution (1 or 3%) or tap water for the following 32 wk. During the experimental period, treatment with MNNG salt and administration of HSC both brought about growth retardation although the final body weight of rats was comparable between groups. Only two rats treated with MNNG salt followed by 1% HSC developed adenocarcinoma of the stomach. HSC treatment appeared to increase the number of rats with preneoplastic hyperplasias and/or adenocarcinomas in both the fundic and pyloric mucosa, although not to a statistically significant extent. HSC administration significantly increased malondialdehyde levels in the urine and gastric mucosa, the former in a dose-dependent manner. The results suggest that HSC has little, if any, promoting effect on two-stage glandular stomach carcinogenesis in rats when given during the post-initiation phase. However, the tumour co-initiating effects of HSC require further clarification.