SOME BIOCHEMICAL ACTIONS OF LEUCOGENENOL AND ITS EFFECT ON DEFINED B, T, AND NULL CELL POPULATIONS DERIVED FROM HUMAN LYMPHOBLASTOID CELLS IN TISSUE CULTURE

Leucogenenol, a compound isolated by Dr. F. A. H. Rice from metabolic products of penicillium gilmanii and also found in bovine and human liver, synthesized in the thymus and thyroid, increase the maturation rate of the myelocytic and erythrocytic series of blood cells. It has been found that injection of athymic nude mice with leucogenenol increases their differential white blood counts to normal mice levels, enhances their capacity to reject skin allograft, and prolongs their life span appreciably under normal laboratory conditions. Serum leucogenenol varies with sex, age, and abnormal condition of health. It is now clear that serum leucogenenol level varies with the menstrual cycle stages in adult females reaching a maximum value and remaining considerably high during menstruation and preovulatory stages respectively. The lowest values occur during ovulation and postovulatory stages. While leucogenenol accelerates the rate of maturation and replication of cells, it has been found that leucogenenol does not have transformational effect on defined cells in tissue culture.