Sequential histopathological analysis of hepatocarcinogenesis in rats during promotion with orotic acid

In the present study, sequential histopathological changes during hepatocarcinogenesis promoted by orotic acid were examined. Male Fischer 344 rats were given 1,2-dimethylhydrazine.2HCl (100 mg/kg, i.p.) 18 h after 2/3 partial hepatectomy. After 1 week of recovery, they were divided into 2 groups; group 1 was continued on a semisynthetic basal diet while the group 2 received the basal diet containing 1% orotic acid. Rats were sacrificed after 5, 10, 20, 29, 40 and 53 weeks of promotion. Histopathological analysis indicated that emergence of hepatocellular carcinomas was preceded first by foci of morphologically and histochemically altered hepatocytes and then by the appearance of hepatocyte nodules. Clear cell foci, eosinophilic ground glass foci and gamma-glutamyltransferase positive foci were detectable after 5 weeks in initiated rats fed orotic acid. Hepatocyte nodules developed in 56% of the rats after 20 weeks of promotion, while the first hepatocellular carcinoma was observed in one rat sacrificed after 29 weeks of orotic acid promotion. Cancer incidence steadily increased with the duration of the orotic acid treatment and 59% developed hepatocellular carcinomas with 30% metastasis to lungs by 53 weeks of promotion. A relevant feature of this model is that during exposure to orotic acid no liver hyperplasia, nor bile duct or oval cell proliferation were seen and the liver architecture in the tissue surrounding focal lesions was well preserved throughout the sequence.