Ammonia toxicity for mammalian and avian lymphocytes from blood.

The effect of addition of ammonia to cultures of avian, bovine, cavian, equine, human, leporinae, murine, ovine and porcine blood lymphocytes was studied. The concentrations of ammonia in the lymphocyte cultures represented normal (0.01-0.5 mg/dl), subtoxic (0.5-1 mg/dl), and toxic (1-10 mg/dl) concentrations of ammonia in blood. Viability of the lymphocytes and their mitogenic reactivity were measured. In general, 1.0 and 10 mg/dl of ammonia (toxic concentrations) affected viability and mitogenic responsiveness of all lymphocytes from tested species. The lower concentrations of ammonia affected only avian, bovine and equine lymphocytes.