Carcinogenic effects of N-ethyl-N-hydroxyethylnitrosamine and its metabolites in rats and mice

N-ethyl-N-hydroxyethylnitrosamine (EHEN), a member of the nitrosamine class of carcinogens induces renal cancer. However, since ver, little is known a bout the metabolic products of EHEN and their effects, these were investiga ted in rats and mice. EHEN, N-ethyl-N-formylmethylnitrosamine (EFMN) and N- ethyl-N-carboxymethyl-nitrosamine (ECMN) were administered in the drinking water for 2 weeks and the animals were then maintained until sacrifice at w eek 32. The urine of the rats was collected over the 2-week exposure period and analyzed by HPLC. The results showed that EHEN but not EFMN or ECMN in duces tumors in the kidneys of rats. In mice the lungs were targeted not on ly by the parent compound but also by both metabolites. The findings sugges t that the kidney is the most susceptible organ to EHEN effects in the rat while the lung is the most susceptible organ in mice. These results are con sistent with inter-species variation in the metabolism of xenobiotics. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.