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Effect of Hypothermia and Hyperthermia on the Induction of Chromosome Aberrations by Adriamycin in Human Leukocytes

Nevada Mental Health Institute, P. O. Box 2460, Reno 89505, and Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89507

When human leukocytes are treated with adriamycin (ADR) for brief durations of 1 to 2 hr at concentrations ranging between 0.04 and 0.25 µg/ml, a dramatic reduction is observed in the frequency of chromosome aberrations in cells treated at 4° in comparison to those treated at 37°. Conversely, a severalfold increase in the frequency of aberrations is found if temperature at the time of ADR treatment is raised to 43°. At higher temperatures, the most dramatic increase is in the frequency of exchanges. These results point to a parallelism between these studies and those carried out previously for determining cell death with hyperthermia and ADR treatment. This effect on chromosome aberrations appears only if temperatures of 4 or 43° are applied during the period of exposure of cells to ADR. No effect is evident if cells are posttreated at 4 or 43° after ADR is removed from the medium. The question of true synergism versus "facilitation" of influx of ADR into cells is discussed in light of the information obtained by other workers on total quantities of the drug present in the cell.

¹ To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Nevada Mental Health Institute, P. O. Box 2460, Reno, Nev. 89505.

Received 6/ 3/77. Accepted 12/ 2/77.