• 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 58  (5) , 1043-1046
Abstract
The finding of elevated intracellular levels of adenosine deaminase (ADA) in some patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia has led to attempts to control this disease with the adenosine deaminase inhibitor 2''-deoxycoformycin (dCF). Because of clinical reports indicating its relative freedom myelotoxicity, the effects of this drug on erythroid, granulocytic and T-lymphocyte colony formation by normal marrow and peripheral blood cells were tested. While clinically the drug is active at serum concentrations of .apprx. 10 .mu.M, it was tested at concentrations .ltoreq. 1 mM. Erythroid and granulocytic colony growth was completely unaffected by 1 mM dCF, a concentration at least 2 magnitudes higher than that necessary to totally ablate intracellular ADA levels. T-lymphocyte colony growth was unaffected by 100 .mu.M dCF, but at 1 mM some inhibition was observed. While able to cause leukemic cell lysis in vivo, dCF apparently has no inhibitory effect on the proliferative capacity of normal hematopoietic cells.