Interactions in recovery and in residual injury from sequential treatments of mouse haemopoietic and stromal marrow cell populations, using X-rays, cyclophosphamide and busulphan.

The acute recovery of populations of day 11 CFU-S, iv-CFC and CFU-F in mouse bone marrow, following a test dose of X-rays, cyclophosphamide (CP) or busulphan (BUS) given to mice previously treated with repeated priming doses of X-rays or CP, was in general predictable from the amount of residual injury after the priming doses. A marked exception was iv-CFC after X-rays, which although amplified to near normal levels during the residual injury phase, recovered after the test irradiation from low levels of CFU-S. The amount of residual injury after sequential treatments of different agents was in general less than expected on the basis of the product of the effects of the individual agents. This was most marked for CP priming treatments, where the long-term recovery of day 11 CFU-S after the test dose remained persistently above control levels. Also, some correlation was found between improved stromal recovery (CFU-F) and the CFU-S content following the sequential treatment protocols.