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Mechanism for species-specific induction of Leydig cell tumors in rats by lansoprazole

F. L. FORT, H. MIYAJIMA, T. ANDO, T. SUZUKI, M. YAMAMOTO, TAKASHI HAMASHIMA, Shigehiko Sato, Tadashi Kitazaki et al.

Fundamental and Applied Toxicology, 1995

35 citations

Abstract

Lansoprazole is a substituted benzimidazole which inhibits gastric acid secretion by inhibiting the hydrogen-potassium ATPase (proton pump) in the parietal cell. The finding of Leydig cell hyperplasia and Leydig cell tumors in 2-year oral studies in Sprague-Dawley rats but not in CD-1 mice prompted investigative studies to determine the mechanism for the Leydig cell changes. hCG challenge studies in Sprague-Dawley rats revealed decreased testosterone responsiveness in rats treated orally for 1 or 2 weeks with lansoprazole. After 4 weeks of daily oral treatment increases in serum LH and decreases in serum testosterone were detected within a few hours after dosing. In a study where 9-month-old male F344 rats were given testosterone supplementation via Silastic implants and then treated with lansoprazole for 6 months, a high incidence of Leydig cell tumors was seen in lansoprazole-treated, unsupplemented rats, whereas no Leydig cell tumors were seen in testosterone supplemented rats. This implied that reduction of the normal feedback inhibition at the level of the hypothalamus and/or pituitary due to reduced testosterone levels, thus giving rise to elevated levels of LH, was involved in the induction of Leydig cell tumors by lansoprazole. In vitro studies with Leydig cells from rats using various stimulators and precursors of testosterone biosynthesis demonstrated that the most sensitive site for inhibition of testosterone synthesis by lansoprazole is the transport of…

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