In vitro effects of growth factors and interferon-alpha on busulfan cytotoxicity

An experimental approach to increasing the effectiveness of leukemia treatment with S-phase-specific cytotoxics is to increase the cycling of leukemia cells with growth factors. However, growth factors may have a different relationship with non-cell-cycle-specific agents. The authors examined the effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and interferon-alpha (INF-alpha) on the cytotoxic effects of the alkylating agent busulfan on the erythro-myeloid cell line K562. G-CSF and GM-CSF increased the proliferation and colony-forming ability of K562 cells and protected the cells from busulfan effects. INF-alpha decreased the colony-forming ability and proliferation of the K562 cells and demonstrated a possibly additive effect with busulfan. In the cell line K562, the growth factors G-CSF and GM-CSF protected the cells from the non-cell-cycle-specific alkylating agent busulfan, whereas IFN-alpha demonstrated an additive cytotoxic effect

In vitro effects of vitamin C and selenium on NK activity of patients with beta-thalassemia major

In this study, the in vitro effects of vitamin C and selenium on natural killer (NK) cell activity of beta-thalassemia major patients was investigated. At first, significant decreased NK activity was found at E:T ratios of 1:1, 5:1, and 10:1 in whole thalassemia patients. Low-dose selenium treatment enhanced NK activity in patients but there was no change in the control group. High-dose selenium decreased NK activity significantly in splenectomized patients. Different doses vitamin C enhanced NK activity significantly in both splenectomized and unsplenectomized patients. According to these results, selenium dosage should be arranged carefully in thalassemia patients, whereas vitamin C can be used confidently