Influence of a prolonged treatment with disulfiram and D(-)penicillamine on nitrosodiethylamine-induced biological and biochemical effects in rats. I. Investigations on the drug metabolizing system.

The influence of a prolonged treatment with disulfiram (DSF) and D(-)penicillamine (PA) on biological and biochemical effects induced by nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) was studied in rats. The combination of NDEA and DSF led to a massive and early development of esophageal tumors, which were fatal to the animals. No liver tumors were observed in this group, whereas PA in combination with NDEA led to an increased development of liver tumors compared with NDEA alone. In the last two groups, only incidental tumors of the esophagus were observed. Nasal cavity tumors also appeared earlier in the animals treated with DSF and NDEA than in animals treated with NDEA alone or with NDEA plus PA. At a biochemical level, DSF led to a significant inhibition of hepatic anilinehydroxylase and nitroso-dimethylaminedemethylase in contrast to PA, which had no influence on these enzymes. The reduced activities of these drug-metabolizing enzymes did not appear to be related to gross cytochrome P450 content. Highly significant increases in glutathione content and glutathione-S-transferase activity (GSH/GST) were induced by DSF but not by PA. Because N-nitrosodiethylamine requires enzymatic activation to form the ultimate carcinogen, it is suggested that the observed inhibition of nitrosamine-transforming enzymes in the liver during DSF treatment leads to an increased amount of intact nitrosamines in other organs, e.g., in the esophagus, where it could be transformed to the ultimate carcinogen. DSF treatment alone or in combination with NDEA leads to an accumulation of trace elements in the liver, whereas PA eliminated copper and cobalt. The possible influence of these elements on tumor development is discussed in part II of this study.