Inductions of ornithine decarboxylase and replicative DNA synthesis but not DNA single strand scission or unscheduled DNA synthesis in the pyloric mucosa of rat stomach by catechol.

The possible tumor-promoting and genotoxic activities of catechol were examined. Administration of catechol by gastric intubation at doses of 10 to 90 mg/kg body weight to male F344 rats induced up to 19-fold increase in ornithine decarboxylase activity with a maximum after 8 h and up to 8-fold increase in replicative DNA synthesis with a maximum after 24 h in the pyloric mucosa of the stomach. These results suggest that catechol has tumor-promoting activity in the pyloric mucosa of rat stomach. However, its administration at doses of 37.5 to 90 mg/kg body weight did not induce DNA single strand scission in the pyloric mucosa as determined by the alkaline elution method after 2 and 6 h or unscheduled DNA synthesis examined after 2 and 12 h.