Effect of a marginally lipotrope-deficient diet on methylazoxymethanol acetate carcinogenesis

The effect of a lipotrope-deficient diet on methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM acetate) intestinal carcinogenesis was studied in 2 groups of ACI rats. For 10 weeks, weanling rats were fed a semisynthetic diet that was either high in fat and marginally deficient in the lipotropes (Group 1), or adequate for rats in all known respects (Group 2). Four weeks after the start of the experimental diets, the animals were given a weekly SC injection of MAM acetate, 25 mg/kg body weight, for a total of 5 times. Following the termination of the experimental diets, the animals were fed a basal diet until the end of the experiment (480 days). The tumor incidence in the jejunum-ileum and the number of tumors in the colon were significantly higher in Group 1 than in Group 2. These results suggest that a marginally lipotrope-deficient diet enhances MAM acetate carcinogenesis, probably in its early stage.