Effect of inflammation on erythroid precursors (BFU-E and CFU-E) in bone marrow and spleen of mice.

Inflammation, induced in mice by a single intramuscular injection of turpentine, caused a long lasting reduction in the number of morphologically unrecognizable CFU-E in the bone marrow. This resulted in marked decreases in marrow erythroblasts and their iron incorporation into heme. The effect is attributed to blood-borne mediators of inflammation which either caused an emigration of progenitors of CFU-E from the marrow or inhibited their proliferation, possibly as the result of increases in marrow myelopoiesis. CFU-S as well as erythroid and myeloid precursors were markedly increased in the spleen during the inflammatory reaction.