FURTHER-STUDIES ON THE HEMATOPOIETIC DAMAGE PRODUCED BY A SINGLE DOSE OF T-2 TOXIN IN MICE

Previous studies revealed that a single dose of T-2 toxin produces a strong inhibition of the Fe-59 incorporation into circulating erythrocytes in mice. In the present work it is shown that equivalent doses of T-2 toxin (0.30 mg/kg and above) can produce a relative depletion of granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming cells (CFU-GM) in the bone marrow of treated mice. In additional experiments, both the Fe-59 uptake into erythrocytes and the bone marrow CFU-GM were measured as a function of dose and time after a single administration of T-2 toxin. It was found that the initial inhibitory effects are reverted between 24 h and 72 h and that in some cases there is even a significant increase over the normal values, indicating that there may be a compensatory activation of the hematopoietic system. The results presented here suggest that extremely small doses of T-2 toxin can produce a significant degree of bone marrow cytotoxicity and therefore even low level dietary contamination may be of concern.