Comparison of studies on saccharin and sodium nitrite

A review of long term animal studies of saccharin and sodium nitrite was undertaken to assess the effect of variability of selected protocol elements on the results obtained. These elements were divided into 4 general categories: design, including selection of test animals, basal diet, dosage form and doses of test substance, route of administration, and duration of exposure; observations, including gross observations during life and at necropsy, clinical tests, and histopathology; performance, including conduct of the test and animal husbandry; and analytical procedures, including chemical and statistical analyses. Because many of the protocol elements are not fully discussed in study reports, it was often impossible to determine what actually had been done. The review of various saccharin studies suggests that bladder tumors resulted following in utero exposure. In utero exposure with sodium nitrite did not appear to cause reticuloendothelial changes. The numerous variations in protocol elements in the nitrite studies precluded identification of a prime element responsible for the variation in reticuloendothelial changes observed. It can be concluded from this review that achievement of reproducibility in long term studies requires minimal variation of protocol elements for the new study.