methylcellulose and Leukemia--Myelogenous--Chronic--BCR-ABL-Positive

We studied the suitability of collagen-based semisolid medium for assay of endogenous erythroid colony formation performed in myeloproliferative disorders. Bone marrow (BM) mononuclear cells (MNC) from 103 patients suspected of having polycythemia vera (PV, 76 patients) or essential thrombocythemia (ET, 27 patients) were grown in collagen-based, serum-free, cytokine-free semisolid medium. Colony analysis at day 8 or 10 showed that this collagen assay is specific, as endogenous growth of erythroid colonies was never observed in cultures of 16 healthy donors and 6 chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients. Endogenous erythroid colony formation was observed in 53.3% of patients suspected of PV, with only 15.4% of positive cultures for patients with 1 minor PV criterion and 72% (p = 0.009) of positive cultures for patients with > or =2 minor or 1 major PV criterion. Similarly, endogenous growth of erythroid colonies was found in 44.4% of patients suspected of ET, with 31.6% of positive cultures for patients with 1 ET criterion versus 75% for patients with > or =2 ET criteria. In addition, we found that in collagen gels, tests of erythropoietin (EPO) hypersensitivity in the presence of 0.01 or 0.05 U/ml of EPO and tests of endogenous colony-forming units-megakaryocyte (CFU-MK) formation cannot be used to detect PV or ET, as these tests were positive for, respectively, 21.4% and 50% of healthy donors and 83% and 50% of CML patients. A retrospective analysis suggests that collagen assays are more sensitive than methylcellulose assays to assess endogenous growth of erythroid colonies. In summary, serum-free collagen-based colony assays are simple and reliable assays of endogenous growth of erythroid colonies in myeloproliferative diseases. They also appear to be more sensitive than methylcellulose-based assays.

Topics: Bone Marrow; Cells, Cultured; Collagen; Colony-Forming Units Assay; Culture Media, Serum-Free; Erythrocytes; Erythroid Precursor Cells; Erythropoietin; Female; Gels; Humans; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive; Male; Megakaryocytes; Methylcellulose; Polycythemia Vera; Thrombocytosis

Clonogenic cell culture assay was used to evaluate the effect of mast cell growth factor (MGF) on peripheral blood granulocyte-macrophage (GM) progenitors in 26 patients with myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs). MGF alone had a statistically significant stimulatory effect on GM colony formation, as also did interleukin-3 (IL-3) and GM colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), although the progenitors could form colonies spontaneously as well. When MGF was combined with either IL-3 or GM-CSF the effect was additive and was as great as that achieved with a mixture of IL-3, GM-CSF, G-CSF and IL-6. The highest colony-forming capacity of all was seen when MGF was added to the above mixture. Within the subgroups of MPDs, the stimulatory effect of MGF was significant in polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythosis (ET) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). MGF was the most potent single factor in PV, while GM-CSF was most effective in idiopathic myelofibrosis and both IL-3 and GM-CSF in CML. The fact that the ability of MGF to induce colony growth varied between the subgroups of MPDs may mean that the target progenitors in these diseases are biologically different. In conclusion, MGF, either alone or with others, was a potent growth factor for GM progenitors in MPDs.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Cell Division; Cells, Cultured; Female; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; Granulocytes; Growth Substances; Hematopoietic Stem Cells; Humans; Interleukin-6; Karyotyping; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive; Macrophages; Male; Methylcellulose; Middle Aged; Myeloproliferative Disorders; Primary Myelofibrosis; Recombinant Proteins; Stem Cell Factor; Thrombocytosis