Effect of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin Administration and High-Fat Diet on the Body Weight and Hepatic Estrogen Metabolism in Female C3H/HeN Mice1

We studied the effect of administration of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin (TCDD) by i.p. injection once every two weeks in combination with a high-fat (HF) diet for 8 or 16 weeks on the body and organ weight changes as well as on the hepatic enzyme activity for estrogen metabolism in C3H/HeN female mice. Administration of TCDD at 100 μg/kg b.w. once every two weeks for 8 weeks increased the body weight by 46% in the HF diet-fed animals, but not in the regular diet-fed animals. This is the first observation suggesting that TCDD, a potent Ah receptor agonist, may have an obesity-inducing effect in animals fed a HF diet. While TCDD increased liver weight and decreased thymus weight in animals, these effects were enhanced by feeding animals a HF diet. Metabolism studies showed that TCDD administration for 8 or 16 weeks increased the liver microsomal activity for the 2- and 4-hydroxylation of 17β-estradiol in animals fed a control diet, but surprisingly not in animals fed a HF diet. Treatment with TCDD dose-dependently increased the hepatic activity for the O -methylation of catechol estrogens in both control and HF diet-fed animals, and it also decreased the levels of liver microsomal sulfatase activity for hydrolysis of estrone-3-sulfate. TCDD did not significantly affect the hepatic enzyme activity for the glucuronidation or esterification of endogenous estrogens. It is suggested that enhanced metabolic inactivation of endogenous estrogens by hepatic estrogen-metabolizing enzymes in TCDD-treated, control diet-fed animals contributes importantly to the reduced incidence of estrogen-associated tumors in animals treated with TCDD.