Transplantation of large granular lymphocyte leukemia in congenitally athymic rats

Twenty-two congenitally athymic nude (rnu/rnu) rats were transplanted with large granular lymphocyte leukemia derived from F344 rats and then compared with ten similar rats inoculated with a suspension of normal F344 rat spleen cells. The normal spleen cells and tumor cells from a spontaneous, naturally occurring leukemia did not grow or cause clinical disease in any of the rats. All rats inoculated with a serially passaged leukemia cell inoculum had local growth at the inoculation site that spread widely and resulted in progressive tumor growth. Death occurred between 16 and 38 days after inoculation. The 22 rats that received passaged tumor cells developed leukemia and splenomegaly. Spleens were diffusely infiltrated by tumor cells and had severe depletion of lymphocytes in the white pulp. Leukemic rats were thrombocytopenic and had hemolytic anemia characterized by increased osmotic fragility, red cell width, and many nucleated erythrocytes. The disease syndrome appears similar to that of F344 rats transplanted with the same inoculum. Because the host rats lacked T cells, it is concluded that the hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia that develop in transplanted rats are independent of T cell function.