Demonstration of residual bone marrow effect in mice exposed to ethylene glycol monomethyl ether.

Ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGMME) has been reported to cause hematopoietic abnormalities in man. We have shown that mice exposed to EGMME post-natally have suppressed bone marrow cellularity and progenitor cells 8 weeks post-exposure which returns to normal values by 16 weeks. Studies were designed to determine whether EGMME exposed mice that recovered had evidence of residual marrow stem cell injury. B6C3F1 mice were injected subcutaneously with EGMME on days 1-5 after birth at doses of 0, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg per day, allowed to recover, and stressed with 200 rads whole body irradiation at 15 and 21 weeks post-exposure. Bone marrow functions were examined during the recovery period. Mice that had been exposed to EGMME were more sensitive to irradiation and recovery of marrow cellularity and progenitor cell numbers occurred more slowly than in unexposed controls. This indicates that EGMME can cause persistent residual damage of bone marrow progenitor cells in mice, an effect that would not be apparent with routine hematological techniques.