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The occurrence of tumours in f 1 , f 2 and f 3 descendants of bd rats exposed to n‐nitrosomethylurea during pregnancy
Author(s) -
Tomatis L.,
Hilfrich J.,
Turusov V.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910150304
Subject(s) - carcinogen , pregnancy , incidence (geometry) , kidney , prenatal exposure , medicine , biology , cancer , endocrinology , physiology , gestation , genetics , physics , optics
N‐nitrosomethylurea (NMU) was administered once IP at a dose of 20 mg/kg to BD female rats on the 18th day of pregnancy. The first generation descendants (F 1 ) were mated to produce a second generation (F 2 ), which were then mated to produce a third generation (F 3 ). While F 1 rats were exposed directly to NMU during intrauterine life, it can be reasonably excluded that F 2 and F 3 descendants were exposed to NMU or its metabolites. F 2 and F 3 rats received no other treatment and untreated rats served as controls. Kidney and nervous‐tissue tumours were observed in F 1 descendants and, with a lower incidence, in F 2 descendants. In F 3 rats, tumours of nervous tissue, but not of kidneys, were observed. These results confirm previous observations that exposure to a carcinogen during prenatal life results in an increased cancer risk which may persist for more than one generation.