Influence of feeding chlorocholine chloride and glyphosine on selected immune parameters in deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus.

Exposure to the plant growth regulators, chlorocholine chloride (CCC) and glyphosine (GPS), resulted in significant immunomodulatory effects after feeding to deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) for 28 days. Cyclophosphamide (CP) and saline controls were included. Both CCC and GPS feeding levels were equivalent to 1, 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg mouse/day. The parameters assessed were: spleen plaque forming cell (PFC) assays, hemolysin titers, white blood cell counts, bone marrow cellularity, hematocrits, plasma proteins, and spleen, liver, kidney, thymus and body weights. GPS significantly raised the ratio of liver/body wt, lymphocytes/g of spleen (at high doses only) and hemolysin titers (at low doses only). Lymphocyte viability was significantly reduced, while WBC counts and plasma protein levels were moderately lowered. CCC significantly reduced plasma proteins, PFCs/g of spleen, lymphocyte viability and hemolysin titers. It also affected thymus weights, WBC counts, lymphocytes/g of spleen and PFCs/10(6) lymphocytes. Most of the effects for both compounds followed a typical dose-response curve, but GPS gave a bimodal response in certain tests. The results demonstrate that CCC and GPS can act as immunomodulatory agents and show the feasibility of using deer mice for immunotoxicity studies of environmental contaminants and agricultural chemicals.