Hormonal and dietary regulation of hepatic enzymes in tumor-bearing rats

Enzymes in the histologically normal liver of hosts of mammary carcinomas were examined for their responsiveness to endocrine and dietary modulations. Treatments with the developmental stimuli of alanine aminotransferase (glucocorticoids) and of pyruvate kinase (thyroid hormone) which had no effect in control adult rats raised the levels of these enzymes in the tumor-bearing rats. The latter also showed a greater percentage of increase in malic enzyme upon thyroid hormone administration than did control animals. The tumor-induced increase in hexokinase remained unaltered by the various dietary treatments; enzymes at subnormal levels were raised (glucokinase, malic enzymes, and pyruvate kinase) or further decreased (alanine aminotransferase and ornithine aminotransferase) by excessive carbohydrate intake in immature and adult experimental rats. The normal upsurge of glucokinase and malic enzyme upon weaning to the standard solid diet (from the relatively low-carbohydrate-containing milk) was prevented by cancerous growth in the organism. Similarly, the standard diet, which reversed within 2 days the partial loss of these enzymes in normal adult rats fasted for 48 hr, had no restorative effect on the essentially complete loss of the glucokinase and the very low malic enzyme activity in the fasted tumor bearers. The results suggest that failure in the dietary adaptations of hepatic enzymes as well as diminutions of their basal levels contributes to the clinically observed abnormalities in the glucose metabolism of cancer subjects.