The effect of mast cell growth factor on peripheral blood granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming cells in methylcellulose in myeloproliferative disorders

Flt-3 ligand does not induce the growth of peripheral blood granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming cells in myeloproliferative disorders

Flt-3 ligand (FL) is a growth factor (GF) which might have clinical use as a mobilizer of stem and progenitor cells into peripheral blood (PB) in autologous transplantations of various malignant haematological diseases, unless FL stimulates the growth of malignant cells in these diseases. The present study evaluated the effects of FL on the proliferation of granulocytemacrophage (GM) progenitor cells collected from PB of 24 patients with chronic myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs) by using a methylcellulose assay in serum-free culture conditions. It was shown that FL as a single factor had no stimulatory effect on GM colony formation either in the whole MPD group or in the MPD subgroups, which comprised 9 patients with essential thrombocythaemia, 7 with polycythaemia vera and 8 with chronic myelogenous leukaemia. No increase in GM colony formation was observed, either, when FL was used in combination with other GFs, such as mast cell growth factor (MGF), granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), GM-CSF or interleukin-3 (IL-3). GM-CSF and IL-3 were the only single GFs which significantly increased GM colony formation in the whole MPD group. As a conclusion, FL does not seem to induce GM colony formation of MPDs alone or in combination with G-CSF in in vitro colony assays.

Spontaneous granulocyte-macrophage colony growth by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in myeloproliferative disorders

In the present study, the ability of peripheral blood (PB) progenitor cells to form granulocyte-macrophage (GM) colonies spontaneously in methylcellulose was investigated in healthy controls and patients with myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs). Spontaneous colony formation was observed in only one of the 18 control cases (6%), but in 22 of the 29 MPD patients (76%). The incidence of spontaneous GM colonies correlated both with the number of blast cells and the amount of c-kit positive cells present in the initial sample. Spontaneous GM colony growth in PB mononuclear cells isolated from patients with MPDs seems to be a frequent phenomenon in contrast to the healthy controls and may present a marker of malignancy.