Effects of cisplatin on different haemopoietic progenitor cells in mice

The effects of Cisplatin on marrow haemopoietic progenitor cells, WBC and RBC were measured and compared in F1 (CBA x C57BL) female mice. Dose/survival curves of Cisplatin for CFU-S, CFU-C and BFU-E were found to be simply exponential, indicating that the effect of the drug has no cell-cycle dependency. BFU-E also appeared significantly (P less than 0.001) more sensitive to Cisplatin than CFU-S and CFU-C. After a single dose of 12 mg/kg of Cisplatin, WBC, MNC and CFU-E were seen to be markedly less reduced and to recover much earlier than CFU-C, and particularly BFU-E and CFU-S. Results suggest that the drug is more toxic for earlier haemopoietic progenitor cells than for the more mature cells, and that the latter are not reliable parameters for complete haemopoietic recovery in mice after treatment with this agent. In the animals treated, there was also a subsequent significant decrease of the RBC count, accompanied by a marked increase of the marrow CFU-E concentration. Possible underlying mechanisms (e.g. alterations of RBC after exposure to Cisplatin) were discussed.