Open AccessTHE EFFECT OF NITROGEN MUSTARD ON THE HAEMOPOIETIC STEM CELLS OF THE BONE MARROW IN THE RAT
Author(s) -
Harriss E. B.,
Aponte L.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
cell proliferation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.647
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1365-2184
pISSN - 0960-7722
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2184.1968.tb00958.x
Subject(s) - bone marrow , haematopoiesis , nitrogen mustard , stem cell , erythropoiesis , bone marrow stem cell , population , immunology , biology , hematopoietic stem cell , andrology , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , anemia , chemotherapy , cyclophosphamide , environmental health
The sensitivity of haemopoietic stem cells to the action of nitrogen mustard has been investigated by transfusion of bone marrow from treated donor rats to recipients whose own haemopoiesis had been reduced to low levels by whole body X‐irradiation. By measurement of the resultant erythropoiesis in the recipients with radioactive iron, a comparison of the repopulating ability of nitrogen mustard treated bone marrow with that of normal bone marrow could be made. It was found that although a dose of 0.9 mg/kg body weight reduces bone marrow cellularity to less than 10% of normal, repopulating ability is not decreased to much less than half the normal level. This is in contrast to the effects of X‐radiation, which has a more marked effect on the stem cell population than on the differentiated marrow cells. Possible reasons for this difference are discussed. It could be that the proliferative or metabolic state of the cell plays a role, or that some repair mechanism is operative in the stem cells which does not exist in the differentiated cells.