Acute effects of a perfluorochemical oxygen carrier on normal tissues of the mouse.

A single iv dose of 15 ml/kg fluosol DA (20%), a perfluorochemical oxygen carrier, caused hepatomegaly and splenomegaly which persisted for at least 3 weeks after drug injection. The peak increase in weight was at 3 days in the spleen (1.7x) and at 14 days in the liver (1.5x). Lung and kidney weights were not altered 1-21 days after administration of fluosol DA. The slopes of the single-dose radiation survival curves for intestinal epithelial cells and spermatogenic stem cells in mice breathing air or oxygen were not significantly altered by the administration of fluosol DA 10 min before irradiation, and the doses to achieve an isoeffect were altered by 1.03 or less. When mice were challenged with iv injected FSa tumor cells 24 h after treatment with fluosol DA, no increase in the number of artificial pulmonary metastases was observed.