ABSTRACT The acute toxicity of N-nitrosocimetidine, the nitrosated derivative of the histamine H,-receptor blocking agent cimetidine, was compared with the toxicities of three structurally related nitroso compounds known to be potent carcinogens, namely N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, N-methyl-N-nitrosourea, and N-methyl-N-nitrosourethane, and also with the parent drug cimetidine. The acute toxicity of each compound was investigated in 6-week-old female Fischer-344 rats by estimating the median lcthal doses via three different routes of administration. and by assessing the scquencc of histopathological alterations induced. According to median lethalities, all three known carcinogens were substantially more toxic than nitrosocimetidine whether administered by the intravenous, intraperitoneal, or oral routes. The widest margin of difference was represented by orally administered N-methyl-N-nitrosourca, the median lethal dose being 59 times greater than oral N-nitrosocimetidinc. By this method, thc acute toxicities of N-nitrosocimetidine and the parent drug cimetidine were virtually identical for each of the three routes of administration. Sequential histological assessment indicated that the three known carcinogens induced specific pathological alterations mainly in organs which were also known to be targets for their carcinogenic activity. In contrast, no tissue lesions of a spccific nature wcrc associated with N-nitrosocimctidinc or cimetidine in this study. The comparable results with N-nitrosocimetidine and the parent drug provide biological support for previously obtained biochemical data which suggested that N-nitrosocimetidine is rapidly denitrosated to cimetidine in the rat
