Takehiro Endoh

Different Roles of 8‐Hydroxyguanine Formation and 2‐Thiobarbituric Acid‐reacting Substance Generation in the Early Phase of Liver Carcinogenesis Induced by a Choline‐deficient, l‐Amino Acid‐defined Diet in Rats

The present study was performed to assess the roles of hepatocellular oxidative damage to DNA and constituents other than DNA in rat liver carcinogenesis caused by a choline‐deficient, l‐amino acid‐defined (CDAA) diet by examining the effects of the antioxidant N, N′‐diphenyl‐p‐phenylenediamine (DPPD). The parameters used for cellular oxidative damage were the level of 8‐hydroxyguanine (8‐OHGua) for DNA and that of 2‐thiobarbituric acid‐reacting substance (TBARS) for constituents other than DNA. A total of 40 male Fischer 344 rats, 6 weeks old, were fed the CDAA diet for 12 weeks with or without DPPD (0.05, 0.10 or 0.20%) or butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT, 0.25%). In the livers of the rats, the numbers and sizes of glutathione S‐transferasc (EC 2.5.1.18) placental form (GSTP)‐ and/or γ‐glutamyltransferase (GGT, EC 2.3.2.2)‐positive lesions and levels of 8‐OHGua and TBARS were determined. The GSTP‐positive lesions of 0.08 mm2 or larger were all stained positively for GGT as well in cross‐sectional area, whereas the smaller lesions were generally negative for GGT. DPPD and BHT reduced the size of the GSTP‐positive lesions without affecting their total numbers. At the same time, they reduced TBARS generation without affecting 8‐OHGua formation in DNA. The present results indicate that oxidative DNA damage (represented by 8‐OHGua formation) and damage to constituents other than DNA (represented by TBARS generation) may play different roles in rat liver carcinogenesis caused by the CDAA diet; the former appears to be involved in the induction of phenotypically altered hepatocyte populations while the latter may be related to the growth of such populations.

Prevention by inhibitors of arachidonic acid cascade of liver carcinogenesis, cirrhosis and oxidative DNA damage caused by a choline-deficient, l-amino acid-defined diet in rats

Effects of inhibitors of arachidonic acid (AA) cascade on the development of fatty liver, cirrhosis, glutathione S-transferase placental form (GST-P)-positive preneoplastic nodules, neoplastic nodules and generation of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), caused by a choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined (CDAA) diet, were examined in Fischer 344 male rats by feeding CDAA diet supplemented with the inhibitors for 12 and 30 weeks. None of the inhibitors affected fatty liver. Among cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors, an irreversibly acting acetylsalicylic acid and a long-acting piroxicam, and to a much lesser extent the short-acting ibuprofen but not indomethacin, inhibited the development of cirrhosis, GST-P-positive and neoplastic nodules and generation of 8-OHdG. A phospholipase A2 inhibitor p-bromophenacylbromide (BPB) also exerted similar but lesser extent of inhibitory effects. Lipoxygenase inhibitors quercetin and nordihydroguiaretic acid inhibited GST-P-positive nodules but not cirrhosis or 8-OHdG. Present results suggest that perturbed AA cascade, particularly augmented COX pathway, might play key roles in the causation of liver lesions in the CDAA diet model.

Selective 8-hydroxyguanine formation in pancreatic DNA due to a single intravenous administration of 4-hydroxyaminoquinoline 1-oxide in rats

8-Hydroxyguanine (8-OHG) formation, a possible initiating event, was determined in pancreatic and liver DNA and compared with the genesis of acinar cell and hepatocyte necrosis in male Wistar rats given a single intravenous administration of 4-hydroxyaminoquinoline 1-oxide (4-HAQO). At the non-necrotic but tumorigenic dose of 7.0 mg/kg body weight, 8-OHG was selectively generated in pancreatic DNA, in the absence of acinar cell necrosis, at the 6 and 24 h time points and repaired by the 48 h time point. When rats were exposed to 4-HAQO at a necrotic dose of 14.0 mg/kg body weight, 8-OHG was also selectively formed in pancreatic DNA with the same time-dependence of generation and repair, while acinar cell necrosis became evident at the 24 h time point and progressed thereafter. Whereas no hepatocyte necrosis was detected in any rats, 8-OHG values for liver DNA merely expressed slight increases only at the 24 and 48 h time points in rats given 14.0 mg/kg body weight of 4-HAQO. The present data suggest that formation of oxidative DNA damage, assayed by 8-OHG, in pancreatic DNA is independent from toxicity and may be involved, along with quinoline adducts, in mutational events underlying 4-HAQO-induced rat acinar cell carcinogenesis.

Comparative Changes in the Liver of Female Fischer-344 Rats after Short-Term Feeding of a Semipurified or a Semisynthetic L-Amino Acid-Defined Choline-Deficient Diet

Groups of female Fischer-344 rats were fed a semipurified choline-deficient (CD) diet, or a semisynthetic L-amino acid-defined choline-deficient (CDAA) diet, for up to 12 wk and effects of the 2 diets on the liver were compared. Steatosis was diffuse and more severe throughout in rats fed the CDAA diet than in rats fed the CD diet. Greater elevations in serum aspartate and alanine aminotransferase activities were also present in the former rats, along with higher 2-bromodeoxyuridine labeling indices in the liver. Discrete amounts of 8-hydroxyguanine were detected in liver DNA, but were not significantly different in rats fed the 2 diets, or from those present in a group of control rats killed at 0 time. Glutathione S- transferase placental form-positive focal lesions were not observed in any of the rats. The results show that the CDAA diet causes more severe degrees of steatosis and liver cell death and proliferation than the CD diet, raising the possibility that it may, in contrast to the CD diet, result in the eventual induction of hepatocellular carcinomas in female Fischer-344 rats.

Disturbance of the Cell Cycle with Colchicine Enhances the Growth Advantage of Diethylnitrosamine‐initiated Hepatocytes in Rats

The effect of cell cycle disturbance due to colchicine on the induction of enzyme‐altered foci during liver regeneration in rats was studied. For initiation, diethylnitrosamine (DEN) at a dose of 10 mg/ kg was injected intraperitoneally and partial hepatectomy (PH) was performed 4 h thereafter. Colchicine at doses of 0, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg was injected intraperitoneally 1 and 3 days after the initiation, followed by application of selection pressure consisting of 2‐acetylaminofluorene (AAF) and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) administration. As end point lesions, γ–glutamyltransferase (GGT)‐positive enzyme‐altered foci were assayed at week 5. There was no significant effect of colchicine on numbers of foci. However, a significant, dose‐dependent increase in the area of GGT‐positive lesions in the groups treated with colchicine was observed. Bromodeoxyuridine labeling indices were higher in foci induced in colchicine‐treated rats than in the untreated rats. In a separate experiment, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase was not increased significantly after DEN and colchicine treatment, and the mitotic index at 6 days after PH was increased in the liver of colchicine‐treated rats. These results suggest that the cell cycle disturbance induced by colchicine causes more pronounced selective growth of cells initiated by DEN and colchicine, and this experimental model may be useful for analyzing the mechanisms underlying that growth advantage and the effects of cell cycle abnormalities in liver carcinogenesis.

Effects of oxidative stress induced by redox-enzyme modulation on rat hepatocarcinogenesis

Inducibility of oxidative stress by menadione-associated redox cycling activation under redox-enzyme modulated conditions was examined in F344 male rat liver, by monitoring 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels in DNA and hepatocyte injury. Further, the treatment-associated liver tumor-initiating, -promoting and -progressing potentials were assessed in terms of development of enzyme-altered preneoplastic foci, neoplastic nodules and hepatocellular carcinomas. With or without menadione, redox-enzyme modulation consisting of increased cytochrome P450 reductase by phenobarbital (PB), depletion of glutathione by phorone, inhibition of DT-diaphorase by dicumarol, with or without further supplement of iron, caused both 8-OHdG production and hepatocyte necrosis. Thus-induced oxidative stress exerted liver tumor promoting-activity in N-nitrosodiethylamine (DENA)-initiated rats, but neither initiating activity when promoted by 0.05% PB diet for 64 weeks, nor progressing activity when the oxidative stress was given for 33 weeks to preneoplastic nodule-bearing rats which was induced by DENA.

RWC multimodal database for interactions by integration of spoken language and visual information

The paper describes the design policy and prototype data collection of RWC (Real World Computing Program) multimodal database. The database is intended for research and development on the integration of spoken language and visual information for human computer interactions. The interactions are supposed to use image recognition, image synthesis, speech recognition, and speech synthesis. Visual information also includes non-verbal communication such as interactions using hand gestures and facial expressions between human and a human-like CG (computer graphics) agent with a face and hands. Based on the experiments of interactions with these modes, specifications of the database are discussed from the viewpoint of controlling the variability and cost for the collection.