SYNERGISTIC ENHANCEMENT OF GLUTATHIONE-S-TRANSFERASE PLACENTAL FORM-POSITIVE HEPATIC FOCI DEVELOPMENT IN DIETHYLNITROSAMINE-TREATED RATS BY COMBINED ADMINISTRATION OF 5 HETEROCYCLIC AMINES AT LOW-DOSES

Potential synergism among 5 heterocyclic amines at low doses in the induction of glutathione S-transferase placental form (GST-P)-positive liver cell foci was examined in an 8-week experiment using male rats initially given diethylnitrosamine (200 mg/kg, ip). The heterocyclic amines applied were 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (500 ppm), 2-amino-6-methyldipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d]-imidazole (500 ppm), 2-amino-3-methyl-9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole (800 ppm), 2-amino-9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole (800 ppm), and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP, 400 ppm). Separate groups received each chemical at the dose used in earlier carcinogenicity assays (above doses), at 1/5 or 1/25 of these, or all 5 chemicals together, each at the 1/5 or 1/25 levels. The numbers and areas of GST-P-positive foci were significantly increased with all chemicals, except for PhIP, at the highest dose, the results being consistent with the reported liver carcinogenicity. In the combined treatment at the 1/5 dose levels, synergistic enhancement occurred; the numbers and areas of foci were significantly increased above the sums of individual data. However, this was not the case for the 1/25 dose groups. Although the synergism between pyrolysis products in liver carcinogenesis depended on the dose and combination of chemicals, the findings, together with those from a previous experiment using 5 different heterocyclic amines, are of particular significance since several heterocyclic amines might be simultaneously generated during cooking of foodstuffs.