Arabinosylthymine: inhibitor of splenic lymphocyte macromolecular synthesis in vitro.

The effect of arabinosylthymine on lymphocyte transformation was investigated. Arabinosylthymine was demonstrated not to be cytotoxic for hamster spleen lymphocytes but was found to inhibit the increase in deoxyribonucleic acid and protein synthesis usually observed as a result of mitogen stimulation. These findings suggest that, in addition to being a potent anti-herpesvirus inhibitor, arabinosylthymine is also an immunosuppressive agent.