Nucleoside-nucleotide mixture increases peripheral neutrophils in cyclophosphamide-induced neutropenic mice

The importance of nucleotides and nucleosides in human nutrition has now become an area of intensive research and clinical interest. To determine any potential benefits of administering a nucleoside-nucleotide mixture (NNM) to cyclophosphamide (CPA)-induced neutropenic mice, we randomly assigned 20 BALB/c mice to two groups and fed them a nucleic-acid-free 20%-casein diet for 20 days. The mice were intraperitoneally administered NNM or saline daily from the onset of the experiment. On the 10th day of this treatment, the mice were intraperitoneally injected with CPA. Blood was collected retro-orbitally and differential counts of leucocytes were done on blood smears by counting microscopically on day 0 (before) and 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days after CPA injection. By the 7th and 10th days after CPA injection, respectively, the peripheral neutrophil number in the saline group was significantly lower compared with the neutrophil number in the NNM group (p < 0.05). Also in the NNM group, more clusters of matured neutrophils were observed compared with the saline group. These results suggest that NNM may stimulate the proliferation, differentiation, and maturation of neutrophils, and that NNM alone or in combination with other pharmacologic agents may be an important therapeutic agent in patients after chemotherapy, immunosuppressive therapy, and organ transplant.