title: The effect of switching between a phytohemagglutinin-containing and a control diet on the growth and lipid content of a Krebs II lymphosarcoma tumor.
abstract: The present study concerns the importance of the timing of feeding mice a PHA-containing diet (7 mg g-1 diet) on tumor formation. The major decrease in tumor weight occurred in mice fed on the PHA diet for 11 days. A marked reduction was also observed in animals pre-fed for 3 days with PHA before tumor cells were injected and the diet then changed to lactalbumin, La. A large decrease in tumor weight was also evident when a change of diet from La to PHA was made on the day of tumor cell inoculation. Despite the presence of the developing tumor PHA was able to induce hyperplasia of the small intestine in all groups of animals fed PHA during a part or the whole of the experiment. The dry weights of tumors attained in each of the experimental groups plotted as a function of duration of PHA feeding, and the percentage lipid content of the tumors, mirrored almost exactly one another, suggesting that the availability of essential lipid material is severely reduced by the lectin. This would appear to have a major effect on the observed reduction in tumor growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Norway.
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; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D007414:Intestinal Neoplasms / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000473:pathology; D008066:Lipolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D010835:Phytohemagglutinins