Histochemistry of liver tumors induced by diethylnitrosamine and differential sex susceptibility to carcinogenesis in Oryzias latipes.

Liver tumor nodules were induced by the administration of diethylnitrosamine [(DENA) CAS: 55-18-5; N-nitrosodiethylamine] to the fish, Oryzias latipes. A histochemical study showed decreased ATPase and glucose 6-phosphatase (Glc-6-Pase) activities in most of the tumor nodules. Increased ATPase staining and, occasionally, Glc-6-Pase staining were also observed. In some nodules, the distribution of bile canaliculi was disordered, indicating positive ATPase activity. Basophilic and eosinophilic nodules could be discriminated by histologic examination. The observations on serial histochemical and histologic sections revealed extreme heterogeneity in the phenotypes of the nodules. Measurement of the enzyme-altered areas indicated that the development of nodules was more prominent in male than in female fish. Experiments with sex-reversed fish, XX males and XY females, suggested that the sex difference in the susceptibility to DENA does not result from the difference in sex chromosomes but from the difference in sexual phenotypes.