Blood chemistry profiles of DMBA-induced mammary tumor in female Sprague Dawley rats

摘要

Although aerobic glycolysis (Warburg effect) in cancers had been accepted as a significant characteristic of cancer, changes in metabolic state in each stage of tumorigenesis remain to be explored. In this preliminary study, we analyzed the changes of several blood chemistry parameters intending to describe the general metabolic state of the early and advanced stages of tumorigenesis in rat mammary tumor models. The mammary tumor was induced in female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats by subcutaneous injection of 7, 12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA). The rats were palpated on the breast every week after DMBA induction to detect tumor development. Blood chemistry examinations including blood glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, urea, and creatinine, were performed at 8-weeks and 12-weeks after DMBA induction. Rats were fasted 12-14 hours before retro-orbital blood collection. The spectrophotometer measured all the parameters. The palpable mammary tumor was firstly detected at 7-weeks on 1 of 4 DMBA induced rats. At three weeks later all rats had palpable tumors that also confirmed by ultrasound imaging. The blood chemistry measurements revealed that DMBA-induced rats had a significantly higher level of triglyceride (p=0.001) and creatinine (p=0.018); and glucose (p=0.007)at 8-weeks and 10-weeks after DMBA induction compared to the non-induced rats, respectively while not in the other parameters. The stages of tumor development may have a different profile of blood chemistry parameters. Further research should be performed to elucidate whether the profile could describe the metabolic reprogramming during tumorigenesis.