[Cytometric study of the effects of destruxin E on leukemic cells in mice]

The activity of destruxin E, a cryptogamic toxin isolated from the hyphomycete Metarhizium anisopliae, was studied on mouse leukemia cells (L 1210 and P 388) in culture. Besides a cytotoxic effect, a cytostatic effect (increase of diploïd cells proportion) was observed with all doses for P 388 (from 10 micrograms/ml to 0.001 microgram/ml) and to a concentration of 0.1 microgram/ml for L 1210. At the lower doses, the effect on cellular DNA content appears distinctly.