Abstract

The effects of combined dietary vitamin E supplementation and a relatively low increase in selenium levels on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) induction of lipid peroxidation in the short term and development of mammary tumors in the long term were investigated in female Sprague-Dawley rats. Control animals were fed the basal diet (20 mg/kg vitamin E and 0.6 mg/kg selenium) throughout the experiment. Three other groups received a high vitamin E diet (235 mg/kg vitamin E and 0.6 mg/kg selenium) at different times, the first two from three weeks after DMBA treatment and the other throughout the experiment. When the vitamin E diet with selenium supplementation was applied until three weeks after DMBA or until the termination of the experiment, tumor yields (tumors per rat) were significantly inhibited compared with the control group. On the other hand, delaying the supplementation of vitamin E until three weeks postcarcinogen produced no prophylactic effect. The elevation of lipid peroxidation levels observed immediately after DMBA administration was also significantly inhibited in both mammary fat pads and livers of animals in the high vitamin E group. It was therefore concluded that the inhibitory effect of vitamin E in combination with selenium on tumorigenesis might be causally related to reduction of carcinogen treatment associated with lipid peroxidation, the latter presumably playing an important role in DMBA-induced mammary carcinogenesis.