Abstract
Causal relationships of carbidopa and its related drugs on the development of spontaneous autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) in NZB mice were studied, and the following results were obtained: 1) Long term treatment with carbidopa (3 mg/kg/day) and levodopa (30 mg/kg/day) neither accelerated nor suppressed the development of spontaneous AIHA in NZB mice. 2) In mice treated with carbidopa/levodopa (3/30 mg/ kg/day), microhematocrit levels were lower than those in the control mice on and after 20 weeks of age and showed a significant decrease at 66 weeks of age (P<0.05). The average anti-RBC antibody titers reached the maximum level 8 weeks earlier than the control group. 3) Microhematocrit levels in the α-methyldopa (60 mg/kg/day)-treated group were higher than those in the control group, and at 66 weeks of age, they were decreased below that in the control group. The elevation of anti-RBC antibody titers was slower than that in the control group. As the reason for the weak effectiveness of α-methyldopa on the incidence of AIHA, it might be considered that the dosage employed was not sufficiently high enough and/or it may be due to the species difference between man and animals. Further studies are necessary in order to draw a conclusion on the AIHA-inducing ability of carbidopa.
