Caffeine-derived N-nitroso compounds. V. Carcinogenicity of mononitrosocaffeidine and dinitrosocaffeidine in bd-ix rats.

Mononitrosocaffeidine (MNC) and dinitrosocaffeidine (DNC) are new N-nitroso compounds obtained from in vitro nitrosation of caffeidine, a hydrolysis product of caffeine present in a typically made and widely consumed tea from Kashmir (India), a high incidence area of esophageal and stomach cancer. The chemical synthesis, in vitro metabolic studies and mutagenicity of the compounds has been previously reported. DNC, a nitrosamide is highly mutagenic both with and without metabolic activation whereas MNC, like several other aromatic asymmetric nitrosamines, does not exhibit genotoxic or mutagenic properties. We now report the results of the first carcinogenicity experiments on chronic oral administration of these compounds in BD-IX rats. The acute LD50 of MNC and DNC were about 1300 and 230 mg/kg b.w., respectively. Lung oedema and gastrointestinal haemorrhages were the first symptoms of intoxication observed after 2 days for both the compounds. All three dose groups of MNC treated rats showed localization of tumours in nasal cavity (93.9-100% of all malignant tumours). The tumours were histologically diagnosed as neuroepitheliomas of the olfactory epithelium (neuroblastoma of the bulbus olfactorii) and squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal cavity in the ratio of 3:1. No tumours of the nasal cavity were observed in the untreated controls. DNC, in contrast, induced squamous cell carcinoma of forestomach in 100% animals at low and high doses, of which nearly half the tumours metastasized predominantly into the peritoneum. No forestomach tumours were seen in the untreated controls. The data presented here clearly show the potential for induction of malignant tumours and distinct organ-specificity by MNC and DNC in rats, and support the postulate that a chronic exposure to these compounds may provide a carcinogenic risk for high incidence of gastrointestinal cancers in Kashmir.