Assessment of L-ascorbic acid requirement for prolonged survival in ODS rats and their susceptibility to urinary bladder carcinogenesis by N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine.

Assessment of L-ascorbic acid requirement for prolonged survival in ODS (genotype: od/od) rats and their susceptibility to urinary bladder carcinogenesis by N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)-nitrosamine (BBN) were examined. In ODS rats without L-ascorbic acid synthesizing ability, the 50 ppm dietary total ascorbic acid (TAA) was insufficient to survive for 4 weeks, the 250 ppm dietary TAA was sufficient to survive for 36 weeks. In examination of BBN treatment, ODS rats--although showing a lower availability of TAA than the heterozygotes (+/od) and normal (+/+) rats with L-ascorbic acid synthesizing ability--were equally susceptible to bladder carcinogenesis.