THE EFFECT OF FETUIN AND OF SPLEEN EXTRACTS ON HEMATOPOIETIC PRECURSORS AND ON DIFFERENTIATED HEMATOPOIETIC CELLS IN IRRADIATED MICE

Injection of extracts from normal mouse spleen tissue into irradiated mice enhance the rate of regeneration of colony forming units (CFU-S) in the femoral marrow. This effect was most pronounced when spleen extract was injected between 24 hr before and 24 hr after the time of irradiation, and was observed only during the first week after a single injection of extract. Another result of injecting spleen extract was an immediate and transient decrease in the marrow cellularity and particularly in the number of mature myeloid cells in the marrow. Fetuin produced comparable effects on the rate of regeneration of CFU-S and on the numbers of mature myeloid cells in the marrow. On the basis of these results it is tempting to speculate that injection of spleen extracts and of fetuin primarily cause a rapid depletion of the marrow's granulocyte reserve. This in turn releases the precursor cell compartment from the inhibitory effects of cell–cell interaction and results in an acceleration of the rate of CFU-S regeneration. It is equally plausible that factors present in spleen extract and in fetuin cause a depletion of the marrow granulocyte reserve and, by an unrelated mechanism, directly accelerate the rate of regeneration of CFU-S.