Compensatory responses animal models

The most characteristic toxic effect of benzene in both human and animal models is the depression of the bone marrow, leading ultimately to aplastic anemia (Rozen and Snyder 1985 Snyder and Kocsis 1975 Snyder et al. 1993b). Rozen and Snyder (1985) have noted that abnormalities of humoral and cell-mediated immune responses following benzene exposure of C57BL mice by inhalation are presumably caused by a defect in the lymphoid stem cell precursors of both T- and B-lymphocytes. They also observed that bone marrow cellularity and the number of thymic T-cells increased, presumably as a compensatory response in these cell lines in response to benzene exposure. This compensatory proliferation may play a role in the carcinogenic response of C57BL mice to inhaled benzene. 

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