ACUTE ULTRASTRUCTURAL EFFECTS OF THE ANTI-TUMOR ANTIBIOTIC CARMINOMYCIN ON NUCLEOLI OF RAT-TISSUES

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 39  (4) , 1239-1244
Abstract
Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with carminomicin i.v. in doses of 1-40 mg/kg. Within 1 h after the administration of carminomicin, 20 mg/kg, nucleoli of cardiac and skeletal muscle cells were segregated, while nucleoli of liver parenchyma cells were unaffected. Cardiac muscle nucleoli reverted to normal ultrastructure 3 1/2 h after drug administration. However, some skeletal muscle cell nucleoli were still segregated. Following treatment with carminomicin, 10 mg/kg, no significant ultrastructural changes were observed. At sufficiently high doses carminomicin induces ultrastructural lesions in nucleoli of both cardiac and muscle cells. The dose of carminomicin required to produce nucleolar segregation in cardiac and skeletal muscle is 6 times greater than the dose of adriamycin (3.5 mg/kg) required to induce equivalent alterations.