title: Dietary phytohaemagglutinin slows down the proliferation of a mouse plasmacytoma (MPC-11) tumour in Balb/c mice.
abstract: Ten days after subcutaneous injection of MPC-11 cells, plasmacytoma tumours which developed in female Balb/c mice fed on a diet containing the kidney bean lectin phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) at a concentration of 7.0 mg g-1 diet, weighed only about 38% of those fed a lactalbumin (La) control diet. The reduction in growth caused by the lectin appeared to occur in a dose-dependent manner but the values did not reach significance before PHA was at a concentration of 7.0 mg g-1 diet. Pre-feeding with the lectin caused a further 50% reduction in tumour weight. In contrast to the reduction in tumour size the inclusion of PHA in the diet elevated the mean dry weight of the small intestine in a dose-dependent manner, values reaching significance at 3.5 mg g-1 diet. The results showed that gut hyperplasia was able to occur even in the presence of the developing tumour. A lypolytic effect of PHA occurred at high concentration. The observations suggest that PHA itself does not have a direct effect on the tumour cells, but an inter-relationship between gut hyperplasia and decreased tumour growth is indicated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Norway. ian.pryme@pki.uib.no
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Pryme
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Pusztai
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bardocz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D009929:Organ Size; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010954:Plasmacytoma / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D010835:Phytohemagglutinins