Affiliations: Redox Regulation Research Group, Tokyo Metropolitan
Institute of Gerontology, 35-2 Sakaecho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan.
Tel.: +81 3 3964 3241; Fax: +81 3 3579 4776; E-mail: kaneko@tmig.or.jp | Shizuoka Junior College, University of Shizuoka,
Japan
Note: [] Corresponding author
Abstract: The effects of esculin, a natural coumarin compound, on the
formation of 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) and carcinogenesis induced by a
chemical carcinogen, N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine (BOP), were examined in the
pancreas of female Syrian golden hamsters. Animals were given a diet containing
esculin for 7 days, and killed 4~h after BOP treatment, and the contents of
8-oxodG were measured in the nuclear DNA of the pancreas. Esculin suppressed
significantly the increase in the 8-oxodG content of hamster pancreas induced
by BOP. Furthermore, the effect of esculin on the rapid production model
experiment for pancreatic carcinogenesis using BOP was investigated. Esculin
was given ad libitum as a 0.05% aqueous solution during either the initiation
or promotion phases. The incidence of invasive tumors in animals given esculin
during the initiation phase was significantly lower than in the control group,
while the incidence in animals given esculin during the promotion phase showed
no significant change. These results suggest that the intake of esculin has an
inhibitory effect on BOP-induced oxidative DNA damage and carcinogenesis in
hamster pancreas.
Keywords: oxidative DNA damage, carcinogenesis, pancreas, N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine, esculin
Journal: BioFactors, vol. 22, no. 1-4, pp. 83-85, 2004
