Haemopoiesis and immune status during BNU-induced leukaemogenesis in mice.
Female BDF1 mice were exposed to 0.04% BNU in the drinking water for 15 weeks. All animals except one observed for more than 3 weeks died of leukaemia. After 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 15 weeks of exposure marrow smears, pluripotent (CFU-S) and ganuloid committed (CFU-C) stem cells from bone marrow and spleen, and the lymphocyte response to different T- and B-cell mitogens and to alloantigens were determined. There was a progressive fall of the CFU-S and CFU-C content of the femur and even more in the spleen, and a progressive decrease in the number of normal marrow lymphocytes. After 10 and 15 weeks new "lymphoid" cells, presumably leukaemic cells, were seen in marrow. The lymphocyte stimulation assays showed a depressed reactivity, rather uniform in the thymus after more than 1 week and also, with a partial recovery after 3 weeks, in the spleen. The implications of these results for the chemically induced leukaemogenesis are discussed.
D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000187:drug effects*; D007942:Leukemia, Experimental / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D051379:Mice; D009607:Nitrosourea Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D013154:Spleen / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology
D002273:Carcinogens; D009607:Nitrosourea Compounds; C002738:N-nitrosobutylurea