Abstract
Summary
Rats were fed 3′-methyl-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene in a semi-synthetic diet to determine whether potential for hexosamine synthesis was altered in the precancerous liver and primary hepatoma. Throughout 90 days of dye feeding, no appreciable change was observed in livers of control or dye-fed animals. When primary hepatomas and liver adjacent to primary hepatomas were studied, amino sugar synthesis by primary hepatomas exceeded the synthesis of control or precancerous livers 3- to 5-fold. Activity in liver tissue adjacent to hepatomas was essentially the same as that observed in control or precancerous livers. It was concluded that increased amino sugar synthesis observed in hepatomas compared to liver was associated with biochemical changes occurring during carcinogenesis.
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