Effect of a-Tocopherol on Hepatocarcinogenesis in Transforming Growth Factor-a (TGF-a) Transgenic Mice Treated with Diethylnitrosamine Satoru Kakizaki, Hitoshi Takagi1, Toshio Fukusato2, Mitsuo Toyoda, Norio Horiguchi, Ken Sato, Hisashi Takayama, Takeaki Nagamine and Masatomo Mori1 1 The First Department of Internal Medicine, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511 Japan 2 Department of Pathology, Gunma University Hospital, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511 Japan Summary To examine the potentially chemopreventive effects of a-tocopherol on hepatocarcinogenesis, we fed the transgenic mice line MT42, which overexpresses transforming growth factor-a (TGF-a) and which has been established as having a high incidence of liver tumor, with different concentrations of a-tocopherol and examined the hepatic tumorigenesis of these mice. At 3 weeks of age, MT42 male mice received a single intraperitoneal injection of diethylnitrosamine (DEN), 5 mg/kg body weight, to initiate the formation of liver tumors. The mice were divided into three groups: group A, control diet (20 mg/kg of a-tocopherylacetate); group B, deficient diet (less than 1 mg/kg); group C, supplemented diet (500 mg/kg). Neoplastic change was determined at 40 weeks of age. The incidence of adenomas (p < 0.05), the maximum tumor size (p < 0.01), the mean relative liver weight (p < 0.01), and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) labeling indices of the non-tumor sites (p < 0.01) of group B were significantly higher than those of group C. No toxic effects of a-tocopherol were found. Alpha-tocopherol-deficient diet accelerated the hepatocarcinogenesis of TGF-a transgenic mice treated with DEN. At best, these data demonstrate that a-tocopherol-deficiency is not beneficial for prevention of hepatocarcinogenesis in this model. Alpha-tocopherol may be useful for the chemoprevention for liver cancer. International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research, Band 71, 2001, Heft 5, © Verlag Hans Huber AG, Bern Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.