Studies on bone marrow in vitro; the effect of anoxia and hyperoxia on explanted bone marrow

The effect of various oxygen tensions on explanted bone marrow fragments wasstudied. It was found that gas mixtures containing 1, 3, 5, 10 and 12 per cent oxygenhave an injurious effect on hemic cells. Bone marrow maintained in these gas mixtures showed various degrees of degeneration, which was the more pronounced thelower the oxygen tension. Mitotic activity was also found to be reduced under theinfluence of low oxygen tension.

Bone marrow cultures maintained in a gas mixture containing 15 per cent oxygendid not show appreciable changes and were similar to the controls.

Increased rate of maturation and multiplication occurred in bone marrow cultures maintained in an excess of oxygen, i.e. 50 per cent.

The significance of these findings in the light of observations on the effect ofanoxia in vivo has been discussed, and reported findings on the effect of low oxygentensions on other tissues in vitro have been briefly reviewed.