title: Effect of K3T3 sarcomas on tissue concentrations of vitamin E.
abstract: In this study, the effect of tumor presence on the concentration of vitamin E in the liver, spleen, and kidney of BALB/c mice was measured, and the influence of the degree of fat saturation was assessed. In mice fed diets deficient in vitamin E, the presence of a transplanted sarcoma in the thigh significantly increased the concentration of the vitamin in all 3 organs. This was true whether the fat was saturated or unsaturated (hydrogenated coconut oil [HCO] or corn oil [CO], respectively). The tumor itself was generally lower in tocopherol than were other tissues of the tumor-bearing host. In mice fed diets containing vitamin E, the tumor increased the vitamin content in some organs but not others. Only in the kidney of tumor-bearing mice fed the HCO +/- E diet was there a significantly decreased content of the vitamin. A comparison of the spleen tocopherol content with mitogenesis by concanavalin A revealed a positive correlation, which explains why the spleens of tumor-bearing mice fed a diet deficient in vitamin E exhibited higher mitogenic activity than the spleens of normal mice fed the same diet (namely, the spleens from tumor-bearing mice had a higher content of tocopherol).
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005224:Fats, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism*; D007708:Kirsten murine sarcoma virus; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008938:Mitosis / Q000187:drug effects; D012513:Sarcoma, Experimental / Q000378:metabolism*; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism*; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D005224:Fats, Unsaturated; D014810:Vitamin E