Influence of esculetin on incidence, proliferation, and cell kinetics of mammary carcinomas induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene in rats on high- and low-fat diets.

The effects of a high-fat diet and esculetin were investigated on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced mammary carcinogenesis in female Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were given a 5-mg dose of DMBA. Seven days later, they were fed either a high-fat (20% soybean oil) or low-fat (0.5% soybean oil) diet. A half of the rats received diets containing 0.03% esculetin. Esculetin significantly inhibited tumor incidence, growth and cell kinetics of the tumor in the rats fed the high-fat and the low-fat diets. Our findings indicate that DMBA-induced mammary tumorigenesis is affected by lipoxygenase products.