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Ethanol-induced tolerance to heat and to adriamycin

Abstract

HEAT can induce a transient state of thermal tolerance so that mammalian cells surviving one exposure to hyperthermia are much more resistant to a subsequent heat exposure1,2. Studies of the combined and sequential cytotoxic effects of hyperthermia and adriamycin (ADM) show that cells exposed to heat could then also develop considerable resistance to ADM3. The most reasonable explanation for the latter finding is that prolonged heat exposure modifies the cell membrane permeability to ADM. No precise mechanisms were postulated as being responsible for either type of tolerance. We report here that ethanol induces tolerance to heat and also tolerance to ADM. The qualitative patterns of cellular survival closely resemble those induced by heat exposure. These results reinforce the hypothesis that one of the prime targets of inactivation of mammalian cells by heat is the cellular membrane.

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LI, G., HAHN, G. Ethanol-induced tolerance to heat and to adriamycin. Nature 274, 699–701 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/274699a0

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