ENHANCEMENT OF 2-ACETYLAMINOFLUORENE LIVER CARCINOGENESIS IN RATS FED A CHOLINE-DEVOID DIET

The effects of feeding a choline‐devoid (CD) or a choline‐supplemented (CS) diet on the induction of liver tumors in rats by 2‐acetylaminofluorene (AAF) were investigated. Male Sprague‐Dawley rats were fed either a CD or a CS diet containing 0.0075% AAF. Three to eight animals were killed 1, 3, 4 and 6 months thereafter. Well to moderately well differentiated hepatocellular carcinomas developed in 50% and 75% of rats fed the CD+AAF diet for 4 and 6 months, respectively. Cholangiocarcinomas developed, after 6 months, in 38% of the animals. No tumor developed in rats fed the CS+AAF diet. The results extend to AAF those previously obtained with DL‐ethionine and azaserine showing that feeding a CD diet greatly potentiates the induction in rats of liver tumors by chemical carcinogens. Copyright © 1979 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company