Effects of aflatoxin B1 on myelopoiesis in vitro

The short-term cultures of mouse myeloid progenitor cells for granulocytes and monocytes, granulocyte-monocyte colony-forming units (CFU-GM) (CFU-GM assay) and mouse long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC) were used to investigate the hemopoietic suppression caused by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). A dose-related suppression of granulopoiesis in short-term bone marrow cultures was seen when the cultures were treated with 10, 5, 1, 0.5 and 0.1 micrograms of AFB1/ml. Two selected doses of AFB1 (5 and 0.5 micrograms/ml) considered to be highly and slightly suppressive in CFU-GM assay exerted a strong suppression of myelopoiesis in LTBMC when applied long-term. Short-term (2 h) exposure of LTBMC to 5 micrograms of AFB1/ml caused a small damage to the myelopoiesis detected in the non-adherent layer. Short-term exposure to 0.5 micrograms AFB1/ml was without any effect on myelopoiesis in LTBMC. The production of colony-stimulating activity (CSA) by an adherent layer of LTBMC was decreased on the second and fifth day after the short-term exposure to both doses of AFB1 and comparable with non-treated culture on the seventh day after the exposure. Presented results indicate that both short-term culture of CFU-GM and LTBMC can be used in the definition and the prediction of host toxicity of AFB1 to hemopoiesis. However, comparing these two in vitro systems, the LTBMC appears to be more sensitive and discriminatory in an evaluation of hemopoietic toxicity.