Induction of liver tumors in male Wistar rats by feeding polychlorinated biphenyls (Aroclor 1260).

Two groups of 32 male Wistar rats, each 5 weeks of age, were fed on protein diet containing polychlorinated biphenyl (Aroclor 1260), at 50 ppm and 100 ppm levels, respectively, for 120 days. This not only brought about gross hepatic changes but induced neoplastic nodules with adenofibrosis in 75% and 50% of the rats of the respective groups. None of the control animals showed such changes. The study revealed that feeding of the PCBs can not only induce liver adenofibrosis in young male Wistar rats in a short duration of time, but also showed that the carcinogenic potentiality in male rats fed Aroclor 1260 is greater when fed at a lower dose.