Induction and promotion of forestomach tumors by sodium nitrite in combination with ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate in rats with or without N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine pre-treatment.

In experiment I, short-term effects of combined treatment with anti-oxidants, sodium ascorbate (NaAsA) and sodium nitrite (NaNO2) on forestomach cell proliferation were examined in F344 male rats. Groups of 5 animals aged 6 weeks were treated for 4 weeks with 0.8% catechol, 0.8% hydroquinone, 1% tert-butyl-hydroquinone (TBHQ), 2% gallic acid or 2% pyrogallor alone or in combination with 0.3% NaNO2 in the drinking water and/or 1% NaAsA in the diet. The thicknesses of forestomach mucosa in rats treated with anti-oxidants and NaNO2 in combination were greater than those with antioxidant alone and additional NaAsA treatment further enhanced the thickening of mucosa. It was noteworthy that values for mucosae of animals treated with NaNO2 and NaAsA without anti-oxidant were similar to those for anti-oxidants. In experiment 2, effects of combined treatment with NaAsA or ascorbic acid (AsA) and NaNO2 on carcinogenesis were examined in F344 male rats with or without N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) pre-treatment. Groups of 20 or 15 rats, respectively, aged 6 weeks, were given a single intra-gastric administration of 150 mg/kg body weight of MNNG in DMSO:water = 1:1 or the vehicle alone by stomach tube. Starting 1 week later, they received supplements of 1% NaAsA or 1% AsA in the diet and 0.3% NaNO2 in drinking water in combination, each of the individual chemicals alone, or basal diet until the end of week 52. In MNNG-treated animals, incidences of forestomach papillomas and carcinomas were significantly enhanced in the NaNO2 alone group (84 and 47%, respectively) as compared with the basal diet group (30 and 10%), with further significant increase in carcinomas occurring with additional NaAsA (79%, p < 0.05) or AsA (85%, p < 0.05) treatment. In animals without MNNG, all animals in the NaNO2 group demonstrated mild hyperplasia, additional administration of NaAsA or AsA remarkably enhancing the grade of hyperplasia, and resulting in 53% and 20% incidences, respectively, of papillomas. Thus NaNO2 was demonstrated to exert promoter action for forestomach carcinogenesis, with NaAsA and AsA acting as co-promoters. The results strongly indicate that combined treatment with NaAsA or AsA and NaNO2 may induce forestomach carcinomas in the long term.