title: Urinary biopterin levels in mice during graft-versus-host reactions and during exposure to 5,5-diphenylhydantoin.
abstract: Based on evidence that urinary neopterin levels are useful markers of disordered cellular immunity in man, we investigated murine urinary biopterin excretion during acute and chronic graft-versus-host (GvH)-reactions as well as after oral exposure to drugs with documented immune disregulating potential in man. Biopterin levels were determined in urine spot samples by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography and expressed in relation to the urinary creatinine content. Similarly increased and decreased biopterin levels were observed during acute and chronic GvH-disease in (C57BL/6J x DBA/2J)F1 (B6D2F1) mice. Increased and/or decreased levels of urinary biopterin were observed during treatment with 5,5-diphenylhydantoin (DPH), methimazole, propylthiouracil and nitrofurantoin, but no consistent pattern could be distinguished. The DPH-induced alterations were similar in B6 and B6D2F1 mice, were dose-dependent, reversible and independent of mature T-cells, as judged by the pronounced biopterin excretion of B6-nu/nu mice in comparison with their T-cell competent litter mates. The results indicate that monitoring of urinary biopterin excretion in mice does not represent a useful biochemical marker for T-cell activation.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Toxicology, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Kammüller
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: van Rooijen
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Seinen
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bloksma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001708:Biopterins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000652:urine*; D001835:Body Weight; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003401:Creatine / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000652:urine*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D008819:Mice, Nude; D019798:Neopterin; D010672:Phenytoin / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D001708:Biopterins; D010672:Phenytoin; D019798:Neopterin; D003401:Creatine