Myelosuppressive effects of cytosine arabinoside (Ara‐C) on growth factor‐dependent human long‐term bone marrow cultures (LTBMC)

Freshly isolated human mononuclear cells (5 × 106) were incubated in a Dexter-type long-term bone marrow culture (LTBMC) system to study myelosuppressive effects of cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) in combination with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or interleukin 3 (IL-3). Differential counts (dc) of the nonadherent cell (nac) populations, starting with culture initiation, were performed weekly. After one week of simultaneous incubation of LTBMCs with either cytokine (100 ng/ml) and Ara-C (1 mg/ml), nac numbers were markedly reduced compared to controls. Dc after week 1 of culture demonstrated significant decreases of all myeloid cell fractions except for macrophages,…