INDUCTION OF CYTOCHROME-P450 ISOFORMS BY CARCINOGENIC AROMATIC-AMINES AND CARCINOGENIC SUSCEPTIBILITY OF RODENT ANIMALS

Hepatocarcinogenic aromatic amines such as 4-aminoazobenzene derivatives and heterocyclic aromatic amines of cooked food origin were found to be liver-selective cytochrome P450IAZ (CYP1A2) inducers. Each aromatic amine showed different species-specificity among rodent experimental animals in terms of the extent of P450 induction. Carcinogenic susceptibility of an animal to the amine was well correlated with the activity and/or inducibility of CYP1A2 in the animals in the early initiation phase of the carcinogenesis. In hyperplastic nodules of rat liver, expression and induction of CYP1A2 as suppressed, especially in the placental form of glutathione S-transferase-positive foci, Despite the decrease of P450s including CYP1A2 in the rat liver bearing hyperplastic nodules, DNA adducts formed by a carcinogenic aromatic amine increased, as compared to the controls, suggesting that the activity of DNA repair enzyme(s) for the amine-derived DNA adducts might decrease in the hyperplastic nodules of rat liver. Treatment of rats with lead nitrate revealed a pattern of P450 expression in the liver similar to that observed with rats bearing hyperplastic nodules. These findings may provide valuable information on the roles of P450s in carcinogenic susceptibility of animals to aromatic amines and in the carcinogenic process.