BACKGROUND:The present study investigated the effects of low-molecular-weight components of bovine colostrum (LMCC),which were administered per os,on the differentiation,growth,and survival of cells obtained from the bone marrow of rats in primary culture.METHODS:Bone marrow cells (BMCs) were obtained from both the rat femurs and were cultured in medium 199 supplemented with antibiotics (8％ streptomycin and 8％ gentamycin) and 20％ inactivated fetal calf serum.In addition,the number of BMCs was counted and their morphotypes were determined.RESULTS:Animals were treated with copper (Cu) sulfate to induce liver fibrosis.Subsequent treatment with LMCC eliminated growth inhibition and normalized the bodyweight and temperature of animals with Cu-induced liver fibrosis.The number of lymphocytes in the bone marrow of animals with Cu-induced liver fibrosis was significantly higher than that in the bone marrow of control animals.The number ofneutrophils in untreated animals with liver fibrosis and LMCC-treated animals with liver fibrosis was lower than that in control animals.Neutrophils obtained from untreated animals with liver fibrosis and LMCC-treated animals with liver fibrosis underwent two-times faster degradation in vitro than neutrophils obtained from control animals.CONCLUSIONS:Our results indicate that LMCC affects the distribution of different morphological types of BMCs but does not prevent their degradation in vitro,which was two-times faster than that of BMCs obtained from control animals.