Arsenicosis is a major threat to public health and is a major cause of the development of urinary bladder cancer. Oxidative/ nitrosative stress is one of the key factors for these effects but the involvement of other associated factors is less known. There is a lack of data for the efficacy of chelator against urinary bladder carcinogenesis. The present study demonstrates the early signs of arsenic exposed urinary bladder carcinogenesis and its attenuation by Monoisoamyl dimercaptosuccinic acid (MiADMSA).

Male rats were exposed to 50 ppm of sodium arsenite and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) via drinking water for 18 weeks and treated with MiADMSA (50 mg/kg, orally once daily for 5 days) for 3 weeks with a gap one week between the two courses of treatments. We compared in vivo data with in vitro by co-exposing 100 nM of sodium arsenite and DMA to rat (NBT-II) as well as human transitional epithelial carcinoma (T-24) cells with 100 nM of MiADMSA.

The data showed that sodium arsenite and DMA exposure significantly increased the tissue arsenic contents, ROS, TBARS levels, catalase, SOD activities and significantly decreased GSH level which might be responsible for an increased 8−OHdG level. These changes might have increased pro-oncogenic biomarkers like MMP-9 and survivin in serum, bladder tissues, NBT-II, and T-24 cells. High cell migration and clonogenic potential in NBT-II and T-24 cells exposed to arsenic suggest pronounced carcinogenic potential. Significant recovery in these biomarkers was noted on treatment with MiADMSA.

Early signs of urinary bladder carcinogenesis were observed in arsenic and DMA exposed rats which were linked to metal accumulation, oxidative/ nitrosative stress, 8-OHdG, MMP-9 and survivin which were reduced by MiADMSA possibly via its efficient chelation abilities in vivo and in vitro.