Distribution and effect of some polychlorinated biphenyls in the hemopoietic tissues

Abstract

Distribution of ¹⁴ C‐labeled 2,4’,5‐trichlorobiphenyl 2,2’,4,4’,5,5'‐hexachlorobiphenyl, and 2,2’,3,3'4,4’,5,6'‐octachlorobiphenyl was studied in the hematopoietic tissues of squirrel monkey and mice (C67 BI) using whole‐body autoradiography. An accumulation of radioactivity was seen in the bone marrow of monkey 24 h and 48 h after iv injection of hexachlorobiphenyl and trichlorobiphenyl, respectively. High concentration of radioactivity was also observed in the bone marrow of normal mice injected iv with octachlorobiphenyl. A combination of whole‐body autoradiography and spleen‐colony assay in supralethally irradiated mice implanted with syngeneic bone‐marrow cells indicated the major part of radioactivity to be localized outside the bone‐marrow hemic compartment, probably in the fat. No effect of hexachlorobiphenyl but a significant inhibition with octachlorobiphenyl (10⁻⁵ M) and especially trichlorobiphenyl (10⁻⁵ M) was seen on the formation of granulocytic colonies from mouse progenitor cells in vitro.