Dopamine accelerates recovery from cyclophosphamide-induced leukopenia

Effect of dopamine (DA) on cyclophosphamide-induced hematotoxicity was evaluated in this study. DA was injected at a dose of 50 mg/kg/day for five consecutive days into Swiss mice that received 200 mg/kg cyclophosphamide (CY) 12 h before. The severity of CY-induced neutropenia was much less in DA-treated group. DA treatment resulted in total WBC and neutrophil recovery at day 7 and day 4, respectively, which were 3 days earlier than the animals that received CY-alone. Similarly, the decline in nucleated cells in the bone marrow (BM) and spleen were relatively less profound in DA treated-group. DA-treatment was successful in reducing the suppressive effect of CY on myeloid and erythroid cells in the BM. In addition, cytochemical staining with Sudan black B revealed 3-fold increase in the number of granulocytes in spleen of DA-treated mice in comparison with CY-only group. The results suggest that DA treatment after CY appreciably reduced the severity of CY-induced blood and BM cell counts. Moreover, DA treatment was effective in accelerating the recovery of blood and BM cells resulting in attainment of normal hematological profile much earlier. Thus, the results indicate appreciable protective effect of DA against cancer chemotherapy-related myelosuppression and leukopenia.