Tumour induction in rats following exposure to short-term high dose aristolochic acid I

The purpose of this study was to assess the carcinogenic activity of aristolochic acid I (AAI) in short-term high doses. Forty-four female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to two groups. A dose of 50 mg/kg/day AAI was administrated to rats in the experimental group by gavage consecutively for 3 days, while the control group received only distilled water, after which renal function and pathological changes were assessed. At day 8 post-treatment AAI had induced elevations of both plasma urea and creatinine, coupled with increased urine production, urinary proteins, glucose and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase. At 1, 3 and 6 months post-treatment renal function and urinary parameters for the experimental group approached baseline values. However, tumours and preneoplastic proliferation were both observed at 6 months for the experimental group. The rate of occurrence of preneoplastic proliferation in the kidneys was 100% (14/14); the rate of occurrence of renal tumours was 28.6% (4/14), which included three mesenchymal tumours and one case of renal oncocytoma; the rate of occurrence of extrarenal tumours was 7.1% (1/14), which was a case of mammary duct carcinoma. Renal preneoplastic proliferation and renal tumours, as well as extrarenal tumours, were not observed in control rats during the 6 months. These results differ from previous reports in that tumours originating from both epithelial and mesenchymal tissues were found, which may be attributed to the duration of treatment and the dosage of the drug. These data indicate that AAI administered in an acute manner at high doses does in fact have carcinogenic properties.