Selective imbalances of cellular immune responses by adriamycin

It has been demonstrated that spleen cells from mice treated with adriamycin not only develop an increased cell-mediated immune response during culture with allogeneic tumor cells, but also have increased phagocytic activity following culture, respond to heat-treated (45 degrees C) alloantigen, develop an increased suppressor cell function, and are less sensitive to a suppressor cell activity. Thus, changes in spleen cell subpopulations occurring in the donor mice consequent to drug treatment result in demonstrable selective imbalances of cellular functions involved in the immune response. One cell type which has been implicated as being necessary in the expression of all these functions is the monocyte-macrophage, and it is suggested that an effect of adriamycin on progenitors of this cell type may lead to the imbalances.