Survival of intestinal crypts after treatment by adriamycin alone or with radiation

A survival curve has been established for jejunal crypts of BDF1 mice treated by single i.p. doses of the antibiotic agent adriamycin. The threshold dose and Do were twice that for marrow CFU-S of these mice. The overall extrapolation number of the crypt survival curve was very low (1.3 +/- 0.13) compared to the value for gamma radiation. This observation is discussed with respect to the interpretation of crypt survival curves. We were unable to demonstrate any enhancement by adriamycin (reduction in Dq) of the response of microcolony-forming cells to radiation given immediately before the drug.