title: Identity and pathogenesis of stomach tumors in Sprague-Dawley rats associated with the dietary administration of butachlor.
abstract: Macroscopic stomach tumors induced in Sprague-Dawley rats during two chronic bioassays with the acetanilide herbicide butachlor at a dietary concentration of 3000 ppm, were evaluated histologically and immunohistochemically in order to determine their identity and pathogenesis. The tumors, which occurred primarily in female rats, were a heterogeneous series, including a few consisting wholly or partly of classic solid or anaplastic epithelium, but with the majority containing diffusely distributed primitive neoplastic cells. The latter had either the general appearance of undifferentiated epithelium or presented a more "mesenchyme-like" pattern where the cells were epithelioid, blastema-like, neuroendocrine-like or sarcoma-like with fascicular disposition. Gastric glandular profiles were also present, usually located near the periphery of the tumors, but in some cases extending into the diffuse tumor tissue. Most of the tumors displayed variable immunohistochemical reactivity for cytokeratin, vimentin and neuron-specific enolase but were negative for muscle-specific actin or desmin except in the stromal tracts. Detailed examination of all available gastric tissue revealed the presence of additional microscopic neoplasms and precursor hyperplastic lesions. All of these were typical gastric neuroendocrine cell lesions (gastric carcinoids) originating in the fundic mucosa but occasionally invading submucosally, and consisting of epithelial cells in organized clusters, rosettes or primitive tubules. The enterochromaffin-like (ECL) nature of these microscopic neoplasms and precursor lesions was substantiated by strong immunohistochemical reactivity for cytokeratin, neuron-specific enolase and chromogranin A, and a negative reaction for vimentin. One microscopic tumor showed a transition from differentiated neuroendocrine type in the fundic mucosa to a dispersed "mesenchyme-like" pattern in the submucosal extension. An additional finding in the butachlor-treated male and female rats was atrophy of the fundic mucosa involving, in particular, reduction in the numbers of parietal cells. This effect was dose-related, being most severe in the high-dose (3000 ppm) females. On the basis of their morphological characteristics, coupled with the continuity evident in the microscopic lesions, it is concluded that the macroscopic stomach tumors associated with the dietary administration of butachlor are poorly differentiated gastric carcinoids, in some cases admixed with a non-neuroendocrine epithelial element. Fundic ECL and stem cells are known to be under the trophic influence of gastrin, which is apparently responsible for the induction of the tumors associated with butachlor administration. Gastric tumor development involving gastrin is recognized as a secondary, hormonal mechanism of carcinogenesis, demonstrating a dose-threshold phenomenon.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: American Health Foundation, Valhalla, New York, USA.
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Hard
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Iatropoulos
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Thake
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tatematsu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000083:Acetanilides / Q000633:toxicity*; D000821:Animal Feed / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D002273:Carcinogens; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000083:Acetanilides; D002273:Carcinogens; C054409:butachlor