title: In vivo hematological effects of seven days of rhIL-6 in neonatal rats.
abstract: Interleukin 6 (IL-6) has been demonstrated to possess a variety of biological and immunological functional properties. Recently, Interleukin 6 has been shown to stimulate in vitro fetal hematopoiesis. In the present study, we investigated the effects of 7 days of rhIL-6 on newborn rat in vivo myelopoiesis. Sprague-Dawley newborn rats (less than 24 h old) were injected (intraperitoneally) daily for 7 days with either rhIL-6 or PBS/BSA. RhIL-6 induced a mild but significant increase in the peripheral neutrophil count on day 1 (P less than 0.02), but had no significant sustained effects during the remaining 7 days of administration. Additionally, rhIL-6 had no significant effect on the bone marrow neutrophil proliferative pool, neutrophil storage pool, the liver/spleen neutrophil storage pool and neutrophil proliferative pools. Although rhIL-6 induced a significant increase in the day 1 platelet count (p less than 0.03), it failed to induce a sustained significant increase in the platelet count during the remaining 7 days of administration. RhIL-6 also failed to induce any change in the circulating hematocrit during the 7 days of administration. This study suggests that rhIL-6 failed to induce a significant and sustained increase in the peripheral neutrophil count or platelet count during in vivo administration in neonatal rats. Although rhIL-6 may possess additional immunomodulating effects in the newborn, this 7-day study of rhIL-6 failed to demonstrate any induction of neonatal peripheral neutrophilia or modulation of neonatal myeloid proliferation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Children's Hospital of Orange County, California 92668.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Cairo
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Plunkett
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van de Ven
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000097:blood*; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D006400:Hematocrit; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007958:Leukocyte Count / Q000187:drug effects; D009504:Neutrophils; D010976:Platelet Count / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor