Biochemical changes and increased liver weight in bone marrow chimeras

¹ Medical Division, Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies; and Biology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Female mice of two different strains were x-irradiated (950 or 900 r total-body) and then given 40 x 10⁶ bone marrow cells from the same or a different strain of female donor mice. Irradiated mice lost weight during the 1st week after treatment. Mice given bone marrow cells showed good recovery except that when the cells were from a different strain there was a second weight loss persisting to the 35th day. The liver weight increased after treatment. The maximum was noted at 12 days. Glutamine and glutathione concentration in livers of treated mice was reduced at 12 days and the concentration of ß-aminoisobutyric acid and of ß-alanine was increased. The changes were greatest in animals given bone marrow cells of a different strain.