INVITRO EFFECTS OF DOXYCYCLINE AND TETRACYCLINE ON MITOGEN STIMULATED LYMPHOCYTE GROWTH

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 53  (2) , 458-464
Abstract
Doxycycline and tetracycline [antibacterial agents] were tested for inhibitory effect on phytohemagglutinin-stimulated growth (measured by [3H]-[antibacterial agents] uptake) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 26 normal subjects. Doxycycline reduced DNA synthesis appreciably at concentrations within and just above the therapeutic range of blood levels; tetracycline did not inhibit DNA synthesis of 3 day cultures even at concentrations 5-10 times greater than the therapeutic blood level. Detailed studies on the action of doxycycline by volume spectroscopy and RNA flow cytofluorimetry indicated that this drug did not influence the recruitment of cells into the 1st presynthetic phase. Cell counts, DNA flow cytofluorimetry and autoradiography after pulsed exposure to [3H]-TdR showed a reduction in the numbers of growing cells in 2 and 3 day cultures in the presence of doxycycline compared with those containing tetracycline at the same concentration.