fusarin-c and Papilloma

Fusarium moniliforme, a fungus of established carcinogenic potential, is one of the most common fungal contaminants of maize, millet and other grains in Linxian, China, a high-risk county for human esophageal cancer. Fusarin C, a major product of F. moniliforme grown on corn in the laboratory, is mutagenic in Salmonella tester strains and in V79 cells. Fusarin C treated rat esophageal epithelial cell line showed several characteristics of malignant transformations including the growth in nude mice. The present work demonstrated that Fusarin C can induce esophageal and forestomach carcinoma in DBA mice and Wistar rats thus further substantiating the carcinogenicity of this mycotoxin.

Topics: Animals; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Esophageal Neoplasms; Female; Hyperplasia; Mice; Mice, Inbred DBA; Papilloma; Polyenes; Precancerous Conditions; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Stomach Neoplasms

The cancer initiating potential of fusarin C, a mutagen produced by Fusarium moniliforme strain MRC 826 was investigated on mouse skin using 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate as promoter. In neither of these models did fusarin C act as a cancer initiator. Culture material of strain MRC 826, which previously was found to be hepatocarcinogenic in rats, exhibited cancer promoting activity in rat liver using diethylnitrosamine (DEN) as initiator and the induction of gamma glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT)-positive foci as end-point. The culture material of this fungus could also induce the formation of GGT positive foci without DEN initiation. These results seem to indicate that fusarin C is not involved in the hepatocarcinogenic activity of F. moniliforme strain MRC 826.

Topics: Animals; Cocarcinogenesis; Diethylnitrosamine; Female; Fusarium; gamma-Glutamyltransferase; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Mutagens; Papilloma; Polyenes; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Skin Neoplasms