Ultrastructural and ultracytochemical alteration of rat neutrophils induced by G-CSF.

Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was administered intravenously to rats, and its effects on the neutrophils from bone marrow and peripheral blood were examined by electron microscopy. Immature cells such as the promyelocytes in the bone marrow of the rats 12 hours after G-CSF administration revealed more irregular nuclei than those in untreated rats. Forty-eight hours after G-CSF administration, these changes became more marked. In the peripheral blood, the number of cytoplasmic granules was increased 12 hours after administration of G-CSF. The nuclei of mature neutrophils at 48 hours showed hypersegmentation with slight chromatin aggregation. The peroxidase reaction observed by electron microscopy revealed an increase in the number of positive granules in the immature neutrophils 48 hours after G-CSF administration, and some of the granules tended to be large. Different from untreated granulocytes, a positive peroxidase reaction was observed in the perinuclear space and rough endoplasmic reticulum of mature cells in the peripheral blood 48 hours after G-CSF administration. These granules also tended to be large. The present electron microscopic investigations demonstrated alterations of the neutrophils in G-CSF-administered rats, and these cells retained ultracytochemical evidence of prematurity even at their mature stage.