The purpose of the study was to describe and compare normal and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-suppressed hematopoiesis in adenosine A3 receptor knock-out (A3AR KO) mice and their wild-type (WT) counterparts. To meet the purpose, a complex hematological analysis comprising nineteen peripheral blood and bone marrow parameters was performed in the mice. Defects previously observed in the peripheral blood erythrocyte and thrombocyte parameters of the A3AR KO mice were confirmed. Compartments of the bone marrow progenitor cells for granulocytes/macrophages and erythrocytes were enhanced in the control, as well as in the 5-FU-administered A3AR KO mice. 5-FU-induced hematopoietic suppression, evaluated on day 2 after the administration of the cytotoxic drug, was found to be significantly deeper in the A3AR KO mice compared with their WT counterparts, as measured at the level of the bone marrow progenitor cells. The rate of regeneration, as assessed between days 2 and 7 after 5-FU administration, was observed in the population of the granulocyte/macrophage progenitor cells to be higher in the A3AR KO mice in comparison with the WT ones. The increased depth of 5-FU-induced suppression in the compartments of the hematopoietic progenitor cells in the A3AR KO mice represents probably a hitherto undescribed further consequence of the lack of adenosine A3 receptors and indicates its synergism with the pharmacologically induced cytotoxic action of 5-FU.
Hematopoiesis in 5-Fluorouracil-Treated Adenosine A3 Receptor Knock-Out Mice
