The effect of vincristine on haemoglobin synthesis.

Vincristine in a concentration of 0.5 and 4 times 10−5 M causes a decrease of 16 % and 73 % respectively, in the synthesis of globin by peripheral blood reticulocytes. At the higher drug concentration the α/β ratio is significantly lower than the normal ratio of unity and is 0.83 ± 0.09. These effects of vincristine are probably related to the ability of the vinca alkaloids to bind to ribosomes and their subunits.