Flour infested with Tribolium castaneum, biscuits made of this flour, and 1,4-benzoquinone induce neoplastic lesions in Swiss albino mice.
The carcinogenic effect of flour infested with beetles (Tribolium castaneum), biscuits made of this flour, and 1,4-benzoquinone (a quinoid secretion of this beetle) was investigated using Swiss albino mice. Force feeding flour infested with T. castaneum induced liver and spleen tumors (lympholeukemia) in 35.2% of the animals. The tumor incidence was 29% in mice force fed biscuits made of infested flour, and the tumors were located in the liver (lympholeukemia) and breast (adenocarcinoma type A). In animals fed 1,4-benzoquinone, the tumor incidence was 33.6%, and the tumors were located in the liver and spleen (lympholeukemia). It is speculated that 1,4-benzoquinone, alone or in combination with other quinoid secretions of the beetles present in the flour, may be responsible for tumor induction in the organs of mice.
el-Mofty
M M
MM
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Egypt.
Khudoley
V V
VV
Sakr
S A
SA
Fathala
N G
NG
D000818:Animals; D016227:Benzoquinones / Q000633:toxicity; D005260:Female; D005433:Flour; D005506:Food Contamination; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000209:etiology*; D014231:Tribolium
D016227:Benzoquinones; C004532:quinone