Effect of Neonatal Administration of Phenytoin on Responsiveness of Mouse Lymphocytes

摘要

A short-term study was conducted to develop preliminary data regarding the effects of diphenylhydantoin (DPH) at a dose of 30 mg/kg on pup mortality, weight gain, lymphoid morphology, and immunocompetence. A major objective of the study was to determine the feasibility of and logistical problems involved in treating BALB/c mice with diphenylhydantoin (DPH) or vehicle (1% carboxymethyl cellulose) on postnatal days 1 - 20 via daily subcutaneous injection. The appropriate dose for postnatal exposure in Experiment 272 was determined to be 30 mg/kg. This dose caused less than a 10% reduction in weight gain relative to control animals. Daily handling and injection of offspring was well tolerated and no significant cannibalism of pups was observed. Preliminary immunologic studies were conducted on test and control mice with the endpoints examined being delayed hypersensitivity, humoral immune response, and lymphoid organ weights and morphology. The data suggests that DPH can induce disturbances in both humoral and cellmediated immune function when exposure occurs during late immune ontogenesis.