title: Abnormal copper accumulation in non-cancerous and cancerous liver tissues of LEC rats developing hereditary hepatitis and spontaneous hepatoma.
abstract: We studied the copper concentrations in the non-cancerous and cancerous liver tissues of LEC rats with hereditary hepatitis and spontaneous hepatoma by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Copper concentration in the non-cancerous livers of 29-month-old male LEC rats was comparable to that in the livers of LEC rats aged 2, 3 and 8 months whose hepatic copper concentrations were more than 40 times those of normal LEA rats. Copper concentration in spontaneously developed hepatocellular carcinomas of the 29-month-old male LEC rats was lower than that in the surrounding non-cancerous liver tissues, but was still more than 39 times that of 8-month-old male LEA rats. These findings suggest that in LEC rats an abnormal copper metabolism may be maintained during the process of hepatic carcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pathology, Cancer Institute, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Togashi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Emoto
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takeichi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Une
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Uchino
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D003300:Copper / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006520:Hepatitis, Animal / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008114:Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D003300:Copper