A single dose of caffeic acid phenethyl ester prevents initiation in a medium-term rat hepatocarcinogenesis model.

AIM To study of the effect of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on the initiation period in a medium-term assay of hepatocarcinogenesis. METHODS Male Wistar rats were subjected to a carcinogenic treatment (CT) and sacrificed at 25th d; altered hepatic foci (AHF) were generated efficiently. To a second group of rats a single 20 mg/kg doses of CAPE was given 12 h before initiation with CT and were sacrificed at 25th d. We evaluated the expression of preneoplastic markers as gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) and glutathione S-transferase type pi protein (GSTp) by histochemistry, RT-PCR and Western blot analyses, respectively. We measured thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in homogenates of liver and used Unscheduled DNA Synthesis (UDS) assay by incorporation of [3H] thymidine (3HdT) in primary hepatocyte cultures (PHC). RESULTS At 25th d after CT CAPE reduced the observed increase of GGT+AHF by 84% and liver expression of ggt mRNA by 100%. In case of the GSTp protein, the level was reduced by 90%. As indicative of oxidative stress generated by diethylnitrosamine (DEN) 12 h after its administration, we detected a 68% increase of TBARS. When CAPE was administered before DEN, it completely protected from liver TBARS induction. To have an indication of the sole effect of CAPE on initiation, two carcinogens were tested in a UDS assay in PHC, we used methyl-n-nitrosoguanidine as a direct carcinogen and DEN, as indirect carcinogen. In this assay, genotoxic damage caused by carcinogens was abolished at 5 microM CAPE concentration. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrated that CAPE possesses anti-genotoxic and antineoplastic capabilities, by an anti-oxidative and free-radical scavenging mechanism.