ALTERATIONS IN TOTAL IRON, ZINC, AND CALCIUM LEVELS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE HEPATIC ACTIVITIES OF GAMMA-GLUTAMYL-TRANSFERASE AND GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATASE IN THE HOST BEARING TRANSPLANTABLE MURINE LYMPHOMA

The levels of iron, zinc, and calcium in liver as well as serum, toget her with the enzymatic activities of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT, EC 2.3.2.2) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-Pase, EC 3.1.3.9) in liver; were critically monitored over various periods in male Swiss albino m ice bearing Dalton's lymphoma (DL), a transplantable ascites-producing tumor. Both hepatic and serum contents of iron, zinc, and calcium wer e found to be maximally elevated (p < 0.001) on day 15 after tumor tra nsplantation as compared with their contents in normal animals. There was a gradual increase in the activity of GGT in liver in lymphoma-bea ring mice in comparison with their normal counterparts, which showed a maximum peak (p < 0.001) on day 15, followed by a continous and sharp fall. Hepatic G-6-Pase activity was found to decrease continuously th roughout the progression of lymphoma as compared with its levels to no rmal animals. Tumor-cell counts in peritoneal lymph fluids of mice con taining DL yielded a maximum count of 155.7 x 10(3) cells/mm(3) on day 15. A significant correlation was observed among the levels of differ ent metals, enzymatic activities, and tumor-cell counts at different p eriods of study. From these results, it can be concluded that the meta ls studied may halle a role in initiating and controlling cellular pro liferations, through their effects on modulating the activities of the possibly preneoplastic and neoplastic marker enzymes named above.