title: Thymosin alpha 1 exerts protective effect against the 5-FU induced bone marrow toxicity.
abstract: Thymosin alpha 1 was shown to prevent the 5-fluorouracil(5-FU)-induced bone marrow toxicity in BDF1 mice, as determined by the cellularity, haemopoietic stem cells (CFU-s) and granulocyte-macrophage colony forming unit (GM-CFU). Furthermore, thymosin alpha 1 increased the levels of colony stimulating factor (CSF) in sera or in culture media of spleen cells derived from 5-FU-treated mice. The treatment of spleen cells with anti-Thy 1,2 antibody plus complement abolished completely the CSF production. The in vivo treatment of donor mice with anti-Thy 1,2 antibody following 5-FU abolished completely the capability of their bone marrow cells to save lethally irradiated recipients. Thymosin alpha 1 treatment prevented the damage by such combined treatment. The present study indicates that thymosin alpha 1 exerts its protective effect against the 5-FU-induced bone marrow toxicity, at least partially, through its effect on the maturation of immature T cells to functional T cells which produce various kinds of lymphokines including CSF.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000633:toxicity*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007518:Isoantibodies / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D000077596:Thymalfasin; D013947:Thymosin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D007518:Isoantibodies; C035678:anti-Thy antibody; D013947:Thymosin; D005472:Fluorouracil; D000077596:Thymalfasin