Stimulating effect of excess iron feeding on spontaneous lung tumor promotion in mice

This study was undertaken to estimate if dietary iron could stimulate factors which promote spontaneous lung tumorigenesis in A/J mice, by measuring biochemical parameters of oxidative stress on pulmonary nuclei, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SAT) activities as markers of tumor promotion. Feeding excessive iron (500%) to A/J mice for 28 weeks significantly elevated pulmonary DNA single strand break (DNA-SSB) as well as nuclear thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in connection with the increase of nuclear nonheme iron level. In contrast, nuclear alpha-tocopherol levels in the iron-loaded group significantly decreased as compared to that in the control group. Pulmonary ODC and SAT activities showed increasing tendency on feeding excess iron for 28 weeks. These results suggest that dietary iron stimulates spontaneous lung tumor promotion in A/J mice, partly due to the enhancement of oxidative damage to the pulmonary nuclei.