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Reaction of Ehrlich Ascites Cells in Exposure to Oxygen at High Pressure¹

Department of Physiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Suspensions of Ehrlich ascites mouse tumor cells were exposed in vitro to O₂ at 75–80 pounds/sq in guage for periods of from 12 to 24 hr. Control suspensions were exposed to air at atmospheric pressure, O₂ at atmospheric pressure, and air at high pressure. It was found that O₂ at high pressure has a deleterious action on these cells, as manifested by: increased numbers of damaged cells in the suspensions as determined by Trypan blue; morphologic alterations as revealed by phase microscope characterized by large, usually eccentric, "halos" or blebs, for which similarity to those described by others under different experimental conditions suggests an involvement of a common causal factor; and inhibition or complete prevention of the development of the disease in mice after i.p. inoculation of the O₂ at high-pressure-exposed suspension. These effects, absent in exposures to O₂ at pressures at high as 80 pounds/sq in gauge for 12 hr or less, evident but inconstant in the 15-hr exposures, were well-pronounced in longer exposures so that in those of 20–24 hr about 100% of the cells were damaged. Thus, despite the demonstration of a high resistance of these cells to damage by O₂ high pressure, the data indicate that the O₂ pressures used in these experiments is not only inhibitory but can be lethal to these cells.

¹ This investigation was supported by NIH Grant HE-01646.

Received 2/ 8/66. Accepted 6/17/66.