Red Cell Production in the Mouse Following Treatment With Vinblastine

Dose response and time response curves have been obtained for the action of vinblastine on the repopulating cells and on the maturing erythroid cells of the mouse. VLB leads to a complete elimination of ⁵⁹Fe uptake at 2 days but an overshoot to above normal levels at 5 days. The overshoot is due to an elevated reticulocyte count, and red cell production is normal at this time. The repopulating cells are much less sensitive to VLB than the maturing precursors. VLB has only little effect on numbers of bone marrow reticulocytes but reduces their rate of incorporation of iron.