Proelss J, Wenzel J, Ko Y, Bieber T, Bauer R. Tryptase detection in bone-marrow blood: a new diagnostic tool in systemic mastocytosis.
J Am Acad Dermatol 2006;
56:453-7. [PMID:
17317486 DOI:
10.1016/j.jaad.2006.09.020]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2006] [Revised: 09/04/2006] [Accepted: 09/14/2006] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
The condition mastocytosis includes a heterogenous group of disorders that are characterized by abnormal growth and accumulation of mast cells. The detection of serum tryptase, an essential mast cell enzyme, is a widely used tool in the diagnosis of mastocytosis. The diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis is substantially based on the histologic examination of bone-marrow biopsy specimens.
OBJECTIVE
We hypothesized that the detection of tryptase in bone-marrow blood might provide additional, more sensitive information on the bone-marrow involvement of patients with mastocytosis.
METHODS
Serum tryptase was monitored in patients with cutaneous symptoms (n = 17), patients with extracutaneous symptoms (n = 16), and healthy control subjects (n = 359). Bone-marrow biopsy specimens of patients with systemic mastocytosis (n = 7) and control subjects (n = 7) were investigated histologically and bone-marrow blood of these individuals was analyzed on the tryptase levels.
RESULTS
We could detect for the first time significantly elevated tryptase levels in bone-marrow blood of patients with systemic mastocytosis. Secondarily we could present a clear correlation between the level of serum tryptase and the clinical symptoms of mastocytosis.
LIMITATIONS
With the present study, we establish a new diagnostic tool for systemic mastocytosis. Unfortunately, we can only present a limited number of cases, since systemic mastocytosis is a rare disease involving few patients.
CONCLUSION
Our results indicate that the measurement of tryptase in bone-marrow blood is a new, sensitive marker of the mast cell burden in bone marrow of patients with systemic mastocytosis.
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