Effect of a single high dose and repeated small doses of dianhydrogalactitol (DAG; NSC-132313) on rat intestinal mucosa.

The influence of the treatment schedule of dianhydrogalactitol on its effect on the activity of mucosal enzymes in rat intestine was studied. The effect of a single high dose (10 mg/kg) was compared with that of repeated small doses (4 x 2.5 mg/kg) given at daily intervals. At 48 h after a single high dose the activities of thymidine kinase, which is a marker of dividing crypt cells, and of alkaline phosphatase, sucrase, maltase, xanthine oxidase, which are markers of mature enterocytes, were strongly depressed. Even 96 h after the treatment low enzyme activities could be observed. Repeated small doses caused milder enzyme inhibition and almost total recovery had occurred by 96 h after administration of the last dose. The results indicate that fractionation of drug administration can reduce the toxic side-effects on the intestinal mucosa and might be partly responsible for the higher therapeutic index of such schedules in experimental tumor models.