Ethanol-extracted propolis enhances BBN-initiated urinary bladder carcinogenesis via non-mutagenic mechanisms in rats.

Ethanol-extracted propolis (EEP) is used for medical, dietetic and cosmetic purposes. In this study, the effects of EEP on urinary bladder carcinogenesis, its underlying mechanism and in vivo genotoxicity were investigated. In experiment 1, rats were treated with N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (BBN) for 2 or 4 weeks followed by dietary administration of 0.125, 0.25, 0.5 or 1% EEP for 4 or 32 weeks, respectively. At week 6, the mRNA levels of top2a, cyclin D1 and survivin were significantly elevated in the 0.5 and 1% EEP groups. At week 36, the incidence and multiplicity of urothelial carcinomas and total tumors were markedly elevated in all EEP groups. In experiment 2, rats were fed basal diet or the 1% EEP diet for 13 weeks without carcinogen initiation. Increases in urinary precipitate, cell proliferation and incidence of simple hyperplasia were observed in the 1% EEP group. In experiment 3, dietary administration of 2.5% EEP to gpt delta rats for 13 weeks did not induce any obvious mutagenicity in the urinary bladder urothelium. Taken together, EEP enhanced BBN-initiated rat urinary bladder carcinogenesis in a non-genotoxic manner through increasing formation of urinary precipitate, enhancing cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis during the early stages of carcinogenesis.

E-cadherin and ß-catenin expression during urothelial carcinogenesis induced by N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine in mice.

BACKGROUND: E-cadherin and ß-catenin are adhesion molecules that promote integrity and stability of the urothelium. A decrease in their expression is associated with more aggressive tumour phenotypes with the ability to invade and metastasize. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 45 ICR male mice were used, of which 25 received N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (0.05%) in drinking water for a period of 12 weeks. Immunohistochemical expression was evaluated in all urinary bladder preparations for E-cadherin and for ß-catenin. RESULTS: Preneoplastic lesions showed staining patterns similar to normal urothelium. In simple and nodular hyperplasia, membrane staining was dominant (66.7-78.6 and 50-100%, respectively). In dysplasia a cytoplasmic pattern was prevalent (86.7-100%). Neoplastic lesions exhibit an abnormal staining pattern (100%) with heterogeneous staining (cytoplasmic, nuclear and membrane staining). A strong correlation was observed between both adhesion molecule staining patterns (r = 0.83; p = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS: In mice, as in humans, E-cadherin and ß-catenin are valuable tools to investigate cellular adhesion status of urothelium and can be considered as indicators of tumour aggressiveness and evolution.

Chemopreventive effects of diosmin and hesperidin on N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine-induced urinary-bladder carcinogenesis in male ICR mice.

The chemopreventive effects of 2 flavonoids (diosmin and hesperidin) on N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (OH-BBN)-induced urinary-bladder carcinogenesis were examined in male ICR mice. Animals were divided into 11 groups, and groups 1 to 7 were given OH-BBN (500 ppm) in the drinking water for 6 weeks. Groups 2 to 4 were fed diets containing the test compounds (group 2, 1000 ppm diosmin; group 3, 1000 ppm hesperidin; group 4,900 ppm diosmin + 100 ppm hesperidin) for 8 weeks during the initiation phase, while groups 5 to 7 were fed these diets, respectively, for 24 weeks during the post-initiation phase. Groups 8 to 11 were controls, given only the test compounds or untreated basal diets throughout the experiment (weeks 1 to 32). The incidence of bladder lesions and cell-proliferation activity estimated by enumeration of silver-stained nucleolar-organizer-region-associated proteins (AgNORs) and by the 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR)-labeling index was compared among the groups. Feeding of the test compounds, singly or in combination, during both phases caused a significant reduction in the frequency of bladder carcinoma and preneoplasia. Dietary administration of these compounds significantly decreased the AgNOR count and the BUdR-labeling index of various bladder lesions. These findings suggest that the flavonoids diosmin and hesperidin, individually and in combination, are effective in inhibiting chemical carcinogenesis of the bladder, and that such inhibition might be partly related to suppression of cell proliferation.