The present experiment adopted the nine week medium-term bioassay system that was established at the auturs´ laboratory. In the nine week medium term assay system, 500 ㎍ of benzo(a)pyrene were injected to non-inbred NIH(GP) mice within 24 hours after birth in the subscapular region and they were weaned three weeks later. After weaneing, candidates for anticarcinogenic agents were administered orally or injected subcutaneously. They were sacrificed at nine weeks of age and the incidence of adenoma developed in the lung was observed.
Fresh ginseng, red ginseng, carrot, β-carotene, soybean lecithin, spinach, Sesamun indicum, Ganoderma lucidum, and caffeine were tested for their anticarcinogenic effect by this system, in which red ginseng, soybean lecithin, Ganoderma lucidum, and caffieine showed anticarcinogenic effect, while fresh ginseng, carrot, β-carotene, and spinach did not.
This result suggested that the nine week medium-term biossay system was useful in screening cancer preventive agents. It was considered necessary to conduct further experiments in order to confirm whether this system could be effectively used in testing carcinogenicity of chemicals.
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