title: Comparative toxicity of mitomycin C and 5-fluorouracil in vitro.
abstract: The adjunctive use of antimetabolites has revolutionized surgical procedures to correct glaucoma in the past decade. Although much is known about the in vitro and in vivo actions of 5-fluorouracil and mitomycin C, their use in the eye has raised new questions about cellular toxicity. For example, filtering blebs after a surgical procedure supplemented with mitomycin C are relatively avascular in comparison with those seen with 5-fluorouracil supplementation. We investigated the effect of 5-fluorouracil and mitomycin C on cultured capillary endothelial cells and fibroblasts. The viability and morphologic characteristics of 3T3 fibroblasts and capillary endothelial cells were studied in light of increasing doses of 5-fluorouracil and mitomycin. Both cell types showed similar sensitivity to mitomycin C. However, fibroblasts were far more sensitive to 5-fluorouracil than were the cultured microvascular endothelial cells. Thus 5-fluorouracil appears to be toxic to fibroblasts while sparing vascular endothelial cells, whereas mitomycin C is cytotoxic for both cell types.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Surgical Research, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: D'Amore
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Dreyer
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D016685:Mitomycin / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D016685:Mitomycin; D005472:Fluorouracil