Antioxidant effects in the development of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma

Am J Clin Nutr. 1978 Mar;31(3):457-65. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/31.3.457.

Abstract

The effect of Ehrlich ascites tumor growth on selenium-turnover rates and selenium-75 distribution in liver, kidney, and immunological tissues (spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes) was investigated in Swiss Webster mice that had been prelabeled with selenium-75. Ehrlich ascites tumor caused a decrease in the selenium-75 content of liver, kidney, and thymus; it also decreased the rate of the total-body selenium-turnover. In liver, depletion of selenium-75 was almost as great as that produced by a selenium and vitamin E-deficient diet. When mice had been fed an antioxidant-deficient diet, considerable quantities of selenium-75 were accumulated by the tumor; the specific activity of the tumor increased 9-fold over that in antioxidant-supplemented mice. The same diet produced a premature, and in some cases drastic, contraction in tumor volume. The possible significance of tumor-induced antioxidant deficiencies to the etiology of certain paraneoplastic syndromes is discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antioxidants
  • Carcinoma, Ehrlich Tumor / metabolism*
  • Cryptococcus
  • Kidney / metabolism
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Organ Size
  • Selenium / deficiency
  • Selenium / metabolism*
  • Spleen / metabolism
  • Vitamin E Deficiency / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antioxidants
  • Selenium