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Skin Sterols. VIII. Effects of Carcinogens, Co-Carcinogens, and of Certain Hyperplastic Agents^*

A. A. Kandutsch and C. A. Baumann

( Department of Biochemistry, College of Agriculture, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.)

1. A single application of methylcholanthrene to the skins of mice caused a decrease in the concentration of ⁷-cholestenol that was detectable by the 2d day. The maximum decrease was usually attained by the 5th day, and recovery of normal concentrations of ⁷-cholestenol was not complete until the 25th day. The decrease in the concentration of the ⁷-cholestenol of the epidermis was proportional to the amount of methylcholanthrene applied, the maximum being a loss of 88 per cent of the ⁷-cholestenol originally present.

2. In contrast to mice, the sterols of rat skin were altered much more slowly when methylcholanthrene was applied daily for 18 weeks.

3. The potent carcinogenic hydrocarbons, 20-methylcholanthrene, 1,2,5,6-dibenzanthracene, 9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene, and 3,4-benzpyrene caused a marked decrease in the concentration of ⁷-cholestenol in mouse skin. The weak carcinogen, 1,2-benzanthracene, was less effective in altering skin sterols. The co-carcinogen croton oil and three of four mineral oils also caused significant decreases in the ⁷-cholestenol of mouse skin.

4. Noncarcinogenic substances related to the carcinogenic hydrocarbons had no effect on the sterols of mouse skin. The hyperplastic agents oleic acid, turpentine, vitamin A, and scarlet red were likewise without effect.

^* Published with the approval of the director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station. Supported in part by the Jonathan Bowman fund, and by grant C-2177, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service. Presented in part before the American Society of Biological Chemists, Atlantic City, April 13, 1954 (Fed. Proc., 13:238, 1954).

Public Health research fellow of the National Cancer Institute, 1952–54.

Received 10/19/54.