Abstract
Summary
Carbon clearance rates were observed to be significantly increased in autoimmune NZB mice with enlarged spleens. Similar acceleration could be induced in young NZB mice by intraperitoneal injection of phenylhydrazine 5 days prior to assay. Marked anemia and splenomegaly were also noted to develop following such phenylhydrazine treatment. Splenectomy of 1-year-old NZB mice was observed to result in delayed clearance of carbon particles. There was little effect on the rate of carbon clearance in young NZB mice injected intraperitoneally with a serum pool obtained from old Coombs positive animals. Assessment of spleen and liver radioactivity following intravenous injection of technetium-99m sulfur colloid indicated a somewhat reduced efficiency of colloid uptake by the enlarged spleen on a per milligram weight basis; however, this reduced efficiency was not sufficient, generally, to counteract the increased clearance capacity of the whole organ. The present findings would suggest that the increased rate of carbon clearance observed in overtly autoimmune NZB mice may be a result of the hepatosplenomegaly associated with the disease state.
We are grateful to Dr. E. L. Dobson, Donner Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, for supplying the Pelikan carbon and for his helpful discussions regarding these studies.
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