THE RADIOPROTECTIVE AND ANTI-TUMOR EFFECT OF MIXED BACTERIAL TOXINS AND ANTHRAMYCIN

¹ From the Department of Surgery, St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York and New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York
² Oliver E. Spencer Fellow in Cancer Research, 1963-1966
³ Department of Biology, Yeshiva University, New York, New York

Our studies indicate that increased host resistance to irradiation is produced when M.B.T. or anthramycin is injected prior to exposure. The mechanism of protection with a therapeutic dose of M.B.T. or anthramycin is thought to be through stimulation of the hematopoietic and reticuloendothelial systems—usually sites of severe irradiation injury. Lysosome studies have been conducted on microscopic sections of liver and spleen of mice treated with M.B.T. and anthramycin 24 hours prior to lethal irradiation of 700 r and, in contrast, of control mice treated with saline and like irradiation. Immediately following irradiation and on day 7, 14, and 21 post total body exposure, the organs were removed and the animals sacrificed. The tissues were fixed and stained according to the method of Barka and Anderson.⁵ Microscopic examination was made of the prepared slides to determine evidence of stimulation of the hematopoietic or reticuloendothelial systems through this medium. To date, insufficient evidence is available to clearly define the mode of action of these drugs. Additional clinical and experimental studies are needed to establish the active principle (s) the anthramycin and M.B.T. furnish for protection of a host against lethal irradiation and to evaluate the specific mode of action producing this effect.

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