Biochemcal studies of hepatocarcinogenesis in rats treated with chemical carcinogens

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted on rats receiving nitrosamines precursors in their drinking water, namely 2000 ppm dibutylamine and 4000 ppm nitrite, to follow up biochemical changes that may occur in the growth of liver tumours. Impairment of liver function tests; transaminases and protein pattern occurred 2 months following carcinogenesis.Also, highly significant increase in the activity of several enzyme e.g. glucose -6-phosphate, Y- glutamyltransferase, 5- nucleotidase, acid and alkaline phosphatase were observed in both serum and liver tissue of these treated rats and were shown to parallel with continued carcinogesis moreover, high elevation in DNA content was also observed in liver tissue of rats with hepatocarcinoma and reached 1.6, 1.7 and 1.8 times that of control rats after 2, 4 and 7 months respectively. In contrast, highly significant decrease were observed in hepatic glycogen content and serum glucose level. These observations may be of value for confirming the detection and diagnosis of liver metastasis