ABSTRACT
Favipiravir, a selective RNA polymerase inhibitor agent, is an antiviral drug currently used effectively in treating pandemic diseases such as Covid-19. The present study aims to determine the effects of favipiravir use on bone marrow and blood cells. Twelve male Wistar rats were divided into two groups, namely control and favipiravir groups. Physiological saline at a dose of 1 ml/kg was administered to the rats in the control group by oral gavage for 10 days. Rats in the favipiravir group were administered favipiravir by oral gavage at a dose of 200 mg/kg for 10 days. At the end of the study, the blood tissue was collected from the heart, and bone marrow samples were collected from the femur bone of the rats sacrificed under anesthesia. The hematologic parameters in the blood samples obtained were measured using an auto-analyzer device with the help of rat compatible kits. Bone marrow cell counts were performed by examining structural changes and myeloid and erythroid cell series in the smear samples. The results obtained in the study revealed that favipiravir use caused a decrease in the counts of some hematologic parameters containing erythrocytes, lymphocytes, and monocytes. In addition, it was determined that the ratio of myeloid and erythroid cells in bone marrow smears changed significantly with the use of favipiravir. It was concluded that treatment with favipiravir caused suppression of erythrocyte and some leukocyte series. The suppressor effects were also determined in bone marrow cell series in the rats.
ABSTRACT
Nucleated erythroid cells (NEC) are the precursors of the most massive population of human cells – erythrocytes, for which functions of hemo- and immunoregulation have been shown at various stages of ontogenesis and in various organs and tissues of the human body. NEC perform this function by secreting cytokine proteins, growth factors, enzymes such as arginase-2, ROS, and by surface molecules PD-L1 and PD-L2. Their important regulatory role has been shown for the formation of fetoplacental immunosuppression, immunosuppression during pregnancy, suppression of the response against commensals in the gastrointestinal tract, in the pathogenesis of bacterial and viral infections in adults, in the pathogenesis of tumor growth and autoimmune diseases, as well as participation in the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns using Toll-like receptors in fish and birds. Such qualities, together with their number and width of distribution, represent NEC as active participants in hemo- and immunoregulation, which makes it important to study their regulatory role in health and disease.