The promotion effect of anorectic drugs on aflatoxin B1-induced hepatic preneoplastic foci
Authors: King J.M.1; Lin X.; Levitsky D.A.; Campbell T.C.
Source: Carcinogenesis, Volume 20, Number 9, September 1999 , pp. 1793-1799(7)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
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Abstract:
The ability of three extensively used anorectic drugs, namely fenfluramine (FN), fluoxetine (FX) and amphetamine (AM), to alter the development of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-induced 
-glutamyl-positive (GGT+) preneoplastic liver foci was investigated in 135 male weanling F344 rats. Following AFB1 administration, 15 rats were killed, while the rest were divided into four groups and fed diets containing either FN, FX, AM or control diet, with half of the animals in each group subsequently being killed at 4 weeks and half at 10 weeks. All three anorectic drugs as expected suppressed initial food intake, growth rate, body weight gain and food efficiency. They also tended to suppress body fat mass and to decrease plasma levels of T3 and T4. FN significantly (P < 0.05) increased GGT+ foci number/cm2 and number/cm3, while FX significantly increased GGT+ foci number/cm2 and the volume fraction of foci. Histopathological staining also revealed that FN- and FX-treated animals had more serious morphological alterations in their liver tissue. In contrast, foci development was, if anything, suppressed by AM feeding. These results indicate that serotoninergic drugs (FN and FX), as opposed to dopaminergic drugs (AM), may have tumor promoter activity, at least for liver tissue.
Document Type: Original article
Affiliations: Division of Nutritional Sciences and : 1: Department of Pathology, Veterinary Medicine College, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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