title: Effects of dietary fat, calcium, and vitamin D on growth and mammary tumorigenesis induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene in female Sprague-Dawley rats.
abstract: This study was designed to test the influence of dietary calcium and vitamin D levels on the promotional effect of high-fat diets on chemically induced mammary carcinogenesis. In a small preliminary experiment (Experiment A), 40 female Sprague-Dawley rats, 43 days old, were randomly divided into 5 groups (8 rats/group) and fed a semipurified diet containing 3% sunflower seed oil (SF) by weight, 1.5 mg of calcium/kcal and 0.5 IU vitamin D/kcal of diet. After 1 week, each rat was given 2.5 mg of dimethylbenz(a)anthracene by gastric gavage. One week later, the animals were switched to 1 of 4 diets varying in fat (3 or 20% SF by weight), calcium (1.5 or 0.25 mg/kcal), vitamin D (0.5 or 0.05 IU/kcal), and phosphate or to a fifth diet containing 3% SF by weight, 0.1 mg of calcium/kcal and 0.05 IU of vitamin D/kcal. In all 5 diets, calcium:phosphate weight ratios were maintained at 1.2:1. In animals fed the high-fat diet, reduction of dietary calcium (1.5 to 0.25 mg/kcal) and vitamin D (0.5 to 0.05 IU/kcal) increased the incidence of mammary lesions from 37 to 75% and the total number of lesions from 4 to 16. A trend toward an increase in lesion weight and total lesion burden was also seen. To confirm these results, the experiment was repeated using the same protocol; 126 rats were divided into 6 groups, treated with dimethylbenz(a)anthracene, and fed the diets as described. A sixth diet was included that contained 20% SF by weight, 0.01 mg of calcium/kcal, and 0.05 IU of vitamin D/kcal. As for Experiment A, in animals fed the high-fat diet, reduction of dietary calcium (1.5 to 0.25 mg/kcal) and vitamin D (0.5 to 0.05 IU/kcal) resulted in an increase in total mammary lesions from 31 to 55, a significant increase in average lesion burden/rat with lesions (1.6 +/- 0.6 to 12 +/- 3 g), and a trend toward increasing weight of lesions. The effect was less obvious in animals fed the low-fat diet where, in both experiments, an increase in the incidence of mammary lesions was observed only when the dietary calcium was reduced from 1.5 to 0.1 mg/kcal. These data suggest that decreasing calcium and vitamin D increase the promoting effects of a high-fat diet on mammary tumorigenesis in the rat.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Newmark
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Carroll
mesh_terms: D015127:9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D008325:Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000473:pathology*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D000074242:Sunflower Oil; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D002136:Calcium, Dietary; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D010938:Plant Oils; D000074242:Sunflower Oil; D014807:Vitamin D; D015127:9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene