In vivo toxicity to lymphoid tissue by 2?-Deoxycoformycin

Abstract

The enzyme adenosine deaminase has an essential role in lymphocyte metabolism. To examine the in vivo effects of inhibition of this enzyme healthy BDF ₁ mice were injected intraperitoneally with 2′-deoxycoformycin, a stoichiometric tight-binding inhibitor of adenosine deaminase. Of the treated animals, 20% died of overwhelming infection, and histopathological examination of these, and surviving animals sacrificed 10 days following treatment indicated a selective toxicity to lymphoid cells. No toxicity to tissues other than the lymphoid system was observed, which is consistent with the hypothesis that 2′-deoxycoformycin offers a new and selective approach to the treatment of lymphoid malignancies.