Mitochondrial population in mammalian cells. IV. Preliminary results on the variation in the mitochondrial population of the average rat liver cell during azodyes carcinogenesis.

The mitochondrial population, computed from the separate determination of the number of cells and mitochondria per gram of fresh rat liver, seems to decrease during carcinogenesis due to 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene, 4′-fluoro-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene, and 2-acetylaminofluorene. The noncancerigenic azodye, 2-methyl-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene, seems to provoke the formation of mitochondria within the liver cell. When 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene is incorporated in a complete diet, the mitochondrial population of the liver cell is unaffected. These results indicate that a lower mitochondrial population might be characteristic of a preneoplastic stage of rat liver induced by cancerigenic substances.