Studies of prostaglandins in rat mammary tumors induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene.

Abstract

Studies are reported on the detection and synthesis of prostaglandins in the tissues of normal mammary glands and in mammary tumors induced by i.v. injection of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene into female Sprague-Dawley rats. Thin-layer chromatography, using silicic acid and argentation adsorption techniques, indicated that prostaglandin E2 was the major prostaglandin of both tumorous and normal mammary gland tissue. The prostaglandin E concentration, determined by radioimmunoassay, was greater in the tissues of the mammary tumors than in the mammary glands of the normal control animals. Use of labeled substrates showed that prostaglandins were also synthesized in mammary gland tumors, and the synthetic activity appeared to be greater in the aberrant tissue than in the tissue of normal mammary glands.