The mechanism of damage to the bone marrow in systemic poisoning with mustard gas

Abstract

After intraven. injn. of a lethal dose of mustard gas (H) the anerobic glycolysis and the respiration of rabbit bone marrow were inhibited. This inhibition was progressive, being just obvious after 4 hr. and very marked after 24 hr., and it ran parallel with the cell damage observed histologi-cally. Anerobic glycolysis was also inhibited in the rabbit spleen, but only after a much longer time (48 hr.). At this late stage, histologic damage was present. No inhibition of anerobic glycolysis or respiration was observed in brain slices from rats 48 hr. after poisoning. No inhibitory effect was found on the anerobic glycolysis of normal marrow cells by serum obtained from rabbits poisoned with the usual dose of H. Neither hemolyzed red cells from a poisoned rabbit nor fat obtained from the marrow of such animals had any effect on the anerobic glycolysis of normal marrow cells. Addition of H (0.0026M) to marrow cells in vitro caused immediate inhibition amounting to 50%. No effect was observed with the same amount of H after reaction with serum. The acid production from H in serum and in whole blood took about 45 min.for completion at 38[degree]; 85% was produced in 30 min. Excluding part of the bone marrow of rats from the circulation for 1 hr. after injn. of a lethal dose of H (2 mg./ kg.) did not protect the marrow from the cell damage caused by H, as detd. histologically.