[Characteristics of the carcinogenic action of methyl(acetoxymethyl)nitrosamine and DNA repair in rats of different ages].

A pattern of DNA methylation and carcinogenesis has been studied in young (3 month-old) and old (14 month-old) female rats following a single intravenous injection (13 mg/kg) of methyl(acetoxymethyl)nitrosamine (DMN-OAc). The incidence of various tumours as well as the incidence of tumours in some peculiar sites were found to be similar in young and old DMN-OAc-treated rats. The life time of old rats was less than that in young animals; the average period of tumour detection was also shorter in old rats. In both young and old animals the highest concentrations of methylated purines were found in lung and kidney DNA. However, the level of DNA methylation in old rats was higher than in corresponding tissues of young animals. Efficiency of O6-meG repair in methylated template DNA was found to be the highest in liver extracts of 1- and 12-month-old rats. Further, by the age of 2 years, the activity of O6-meGT decreased. The findings suggest that different age periods could be characterized by different efficiency of DNA alkylation, synthesis and repair.