In vitro evaluation of hematopoiesis in mice treated with busulphan or nitrogen mustard.

Long term bone marrow cultures were established using combinations of untreated marrow and marrow treated with nitrogen mustard or busulphan in vivo. This study showed that 1) adherent cell layers, which morphologically resemble those derived from normal marrow, can be established from mice treated with busulphan or nitrogen mustard, 2) total cellularity in cultures containing a treated marrow is drastically reduced, 3) CFU-S content was slightly below control values in cultures of treated non-adherent cells on normal monolayers, and 4) CFU-S content was severely reduced when the monolayer was derived from drug-treated marrow. The usefulness of this long term culture system to study drug-induced modulation of hematopoiesis has been substantiated by this study.