title: Dietary supplementation of carbonate promotes spontaneous tumorigenesis in a rat gastric stump model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Food supplements are known to affect the development of gastric adenocarcinoma. In this study, an animal model of gastric resection was used to investigate the effects of calcium carbonate on spontaneous development of gastric adenocarcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-two Wistar rats with gastric resections (performed to induce spontaneous gastric cancer) and 60 without resections (controls) were used to analyse the carcinogenic potential of different ion supplements in food.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the resected rats, cancer developed in 3 out of 18 (17%, NS) given NaCl but in 11 out of 18 (61%, p<0.01) exposed to calcium carbonate. No tumours were found in the unresected (unoperated) animals. These findings were further analysed by separately investigating the effects of calcium and carbonate ions on tumorigenesis in the gastric stump model. Cancer developed in one of 26 (4%) resected animals given a diet supplemented with CaHPO(4), which was lower than the rate observed in the resected control group fed a normal diet, although this difference was not statistically significant. However, tumour development increased significantly in the resected animals given a diet supplemented with NaHCO(3) (tumours in 13 out of 24 rats, 54%; p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present results reveal a significant role for carbonate in the induction of gastric carcinoma in the rat. The relevance of this finding is underlined by the fact that carbonate is a major constituent of intestinal reflux into the stomach, and that such reflux is considered to be one of the major causes of gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, Lund University, Sweden. roy.ehrnstrom@med.lu.se
authors.forename: Roy A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Ehrnström
authors.forename: Béla
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Veress
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arvidsson
authors.forename: Nils H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Sternby
authors.forename: Tommy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.forename: Clas G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Lindström
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018530:Gastric Stump; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D002119:Calcium Carbonate