Non-involvement of the K-ras mutation in colon carcinogenesis promoted by dietary deoxycholate in azoxymethane-treated rats

Fish protein decreases serum cholesterol in rats by inhibition of cholesterol and bile acid absorption

Fish protein has been shown to decrease serum cholesterol content by inhibiting absorption of cholesterol and bile acid in laboratory animals, though the mechanism underlying this effect is not yet fully understood. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanism underlying the inhibition of cholesterol and bile acid absorption following fish protein intake. Male Wistar rats were divided into 2 dietary groups of 7 rats each, 1 group receiving a diet consisting of 20% casein and the other receiving a diet consisting of 10% casein and 10% fish protein. Both experimental diets also contained 0.5% cholesterol and 0.1% sodium cholate. After the rats had been on their respective diets for 4 wk, their serum and liver cholesterol contents and fecal cholesterol, bile acid, and nitrogen excretion contents were measured. Fish protein consumption decreased serum and liver cholesterol content and increased fecal cholesterol and bile acid excretion and simultaneously increased fecal nitrogen excretion. In addition, fish protein hydrolyzate prepared by in vitro digestion had lower micellar solubility of cholesterol and higher binding capacity for bile acids compared with casein hydrolyzate. These results suggest that the hypocholesterolemic effect of fish protein is mediated by increased fecal cholesterol and bile acid excretion, which is due to the digestion products of fish protein having reduced micellar solubility of cholesterol and increased bile acid binding capacity.

Databases applicable to quantitative hazard/risk assessment--towards a predictive systems toxicology

The Workshop on The Power of Aggregated Toxicity Data addressed the requirement for distributed databases to support quantitative hazard and risk assessment. The authors have conceived and constructed with federal support several databases that have been used in hazard identification and risk assessment. The first of these databases, the EPA Gene-Tox Database was developed for the EPA Office of Toxic Substances by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and is currently hosted by the National Library of Medicine. This public resource is based on the collaborative evaluation, by government, academia, and industry, of short-term tests for the detection of mutagens and presumptive carcinogens. The two-phased evaluation process resulted in more than 50 peer-reviewed publications on test system performance and a qualitative database on thousands of chemicals. Subsequently, the graphic and quantitative EPA/IARC Genetic Activity Profile (GAP) Database was developed in collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). A chemical database driven by consideration of the lowest effective dose, GAP has served IARC for many years in support of hazard classification of potential human carcinogens. The Toxicological Activity Profile (TAP) prototype database was patterned after GAP and utilized acute, subchronic, and chronic data from the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. TAP demonstrated the flexibility of the GAP format for air toxics, water pollutants and other environmental agents. The GAP format was also applied to developmental toxicants and was modified to represent quantitative results from the rodent carcinogen bioassay. More recently, the authors have constructed: 1) the NIEHS Genetic Alterations in Cancer (GAC) Database which quantifies specific mutations found in cancers induced by environmental agents, and 2) the NIEHS Chemical Effects in Biological Systems (CEBS) Knowledgebase that integrates genomic and other biological data including dose-response studies in toxicology and pathology. Each of the public databases has been discussed in prior publications. They will be briefly described in the present report from the perspective of aggregating datasets to augment the data and information contained within them.