Amifostine as differentiating agent in cord blood and bone marrow cultures from children with hematological disorders

Amifostine protects normal tissues from the cytotoxicity of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and has an effect a growth factor both in vivo and in vitro. To evaluate its possible hemopoietic promoting activity, the authors studied the effect of WR-2721 on cord blood and bone marrow progenitors from children with hematological disorders and normal controls in semisolid cultures after preincubation with 0.1-1000 microM amifostine. Amifostine enhanced the growth of BFU-E in autoimmune neutropenia but inhibited CFU-GM development. It also exerted an inhibitory effect upon growth of committed progenitors in the groups studied (acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Langerhans cell histiocytosis), including cord blood and marrow of healthy controls.