The Differential Effects of Cyclophosphamide on Dendritic Cells and Tissue Macrophages / 대한해부학회지

ABSTRACT

This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of cyclophosphamide (CY) on dendritic cells (DCs) and ED2 positive tissue macrophages in adult rat lymphoid and non-lymphoid organs. A single dose of CY (150 mg/kg) was administered to Sprague-Dawley rats by intraperitoneal injection. After the rats were sacrificed in groups of three at 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks and 1 month, the tongue, heart, urinary bladder, thymus, spleen and cervical lymph nodes were removed. The immunocytochemical characterization of the cells was carried out using the monoclonal antibodies OX6, OX62 and ED2 in cryostat-cut sections. CY elicited a decrease in number of intraepithelial and interstitial DCs in urinary bladder and in number of interdigitating DCs in all the lymphoid organs examined in this study, whereas CY did not cause any alteration in the number and distribution pattern of dendritic cells in tongue and hearts. CY increased the size and number of tissue macrophages in all the organs examined in this study. Most of these features began to appear from the first day and reached the maximun on the third and seventh day, but two weeks after CY administration, these phenomena declined. In conclusion, CY has differential effects on the rat DCs and macrophages and also on the subpopulations of DC according to the location and the functional state.