摘要：Measuring the effect of various chemical substances on murine spleen and thymus is an usual method used in immunotoxicology. Apoptosis is a form of cellular death which can be triggered by toxic insults. The characteristic morphological alterations of apoptotic cells were assessed using acridine orange, a DNA-intercalating dye. We compared thymus and spleen apoptotic index (percentage of apoptotic cells) in rats chronically exposed to various organic solvents: toluene, xylene, acetone, a mixture containing 30% toluene, 30% xylene and 40% acetone and a mixture containing 15% benzene and 85% toluene. All the solvents used in the experiment induced apoptosis in splenic and thymic cellular suspensions. Acetone, either alone or in mixture, was the most powerful apoptosis inducer.
