A long-term follow-up study of 50 patients with severe aplastic anemia who have survived more than 3 years after immunosuppressive therapy / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the long-term outcome of immunosuppressive therapy (IST) in patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Hematopoietic recovery (peripheral blood cell counts, bone marrow aspirates, bone marrow biopsy, in vitro culture of hematopoietic progenitors), immunity of T lymphocyte, quality of life and side-effects of the therapy were assessed in 50 SAA patients who have survived more than 3 years after IST.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At 3 years, 4 years and 5 years follow-up, 81.5% (13 cases), 86.7% (13 cases) and 89.5% (17 cases) of the SAA patients reached and maintained normal peripheral blood cell counts, 93.4% (15 cases), 93.3% (14 cases) and 94.7% (18 cases) showed normal bone marrow pictures, and 37.5% (6 cases), 40.0% (6 cases) and 73.7% (14 cases) had normal yields of bone marrow cell culture, respectively. Overall, 86.0% (43 cases), 94.0% (47 cases) and 52.0% (26 cases) of the total SAA patients were normalized in peripheral blood counts, bone marrow picture and culture of hematopoietic progenitor yields, respectively. During the follow-up, 88.0% (44 cases) of the patients achieved 100 of Karnofsky scores; 26 of the 31 patients (83.9%) who received bone marrow biopsy showed normal histological pictures, and 29 of 37 patients (78.4%) tested had normal subsets of T lymphocytes. No clonal disease was found. The late side-effects of IST were mild. All of the parameters tested were normal in 24 patients.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>After IST, the hematopoietic function of bone marrow, the immunity of the T lymphocyte and the life quality were normalized with few side-effects in patients with SAA. These patients would probably be cured.</p>

Role of Th1 cell in the pathogenesis of aplastic anemia / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect the quantity, proportion and function of producing cytokines of Th1 and Th2 cells in aplastic anemia (AA) patients and their contribution to the hematopoietic failure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>(1) Eleven patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) at diagnosis were observed by Marsh's method for the CFU-E, BFU-E and CFU-GM before and after depletion of CD(4)(+) T lymphocytes from bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNC); (2) Th1 (CD(4)(+) IFN-gamma(+)) and Th2 (CD(4)(+) IL-4(+)) cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) of 21 SAA patients and 17 normal controls were counted by FACS. (3) mRNA expression of IFN-gamma and IL-4 gene in unstimulated BMMNC from 16 SAA patients, 11 chronic aplastic anemia (CAA) patients, 26 other hematological diseases patients and 11 normal controls were measured by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).</p><p><b>RESULT</b>(1) CFU-E, CFU-GM and BFU-E increased significantly after depletion of CD(4)(+) T lymphocytes from BMMNC of SAA patients. (2) The percentage of IFN-gamma producing CD(4)(+) T cell (Th1) of SAA patients was significantly higher than that of controls, the percentages of IL-4 producing CD(4)(+) T cells (Th2) had no difference between SAA patients and normal controls. (3) IFN-gamma mRNA was detected in unstimulated BMMNC in 13 of 16 SAA patients, 6 of 11 CAA patients and one of 6 paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) patients. The IFN-gamma mRNA was not detected in unstimulated BMMNC of 11 normal controls and other hematological diseases patients.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Disbalance of CD(4)(+) T lymphocytes subsets and increases in quantity and IFN-gamma producing function of Th1 cells might be important for the development of bone marrow failure in AA and in distinguishing AA from other kinds of pancytopenic diseases.</p>

Clinical analysis of 185 patients with polycythemia vera / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To understand the clinical feature and natural course of polycythemia vera (PV).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical symptoms, signs, laboratory examination and prognosis of 185 patients with PV were analysed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There are 122 males and 63 females. The mean age was (52.7 +/- 14.1) years. The mean hemoglobin level was (208.3 +/- 21.2) g/L. Pancytosis was displayed in 74 (40%) cases, excess of red blood cells in 33 (17.8%), excess of red blood cells and granulocytes in 67 (36.2%) and excess of red blood cell and platelets in 11 (5.9%). Splenomegaly was found in 123 (66.5%) patients and hepatomegaly in 30 (16.2%). Quantitative assess of serum Epo was done in 25 patients. The level was low in 16 (64.2%) and normal in 9 (36.0%). Hematopoietic progenitor culture yields was elevated in 11 patients, endogenous erythroid colonies (EEC) formation was found in 10 cases (90.9%). Eighty two patients (44.3%) had 101 attacks of vascular thrombotic incidents, 7 patients developed myelofibrosis (MF). Secondary cancer occurred in 1 patient. Two patients died of thrombosis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PV is an elderly adult myeloproliferative disease with a high frequency of thrombosis. EEC can be found out in PV patients. The serum Epo level is not increased in PV patients. The main sequelae of PV is MF.</p>

Giant Tumor Cells in the Bone Marrow and Their Significance / 中国实验血液学杂志

Giant tumor cells and their varieties in the bone marrow were found in 7 patients with abnomal hematopoiesis phenomena. These cells were artificially devided into 5 kinds according to the difference of their morphology. Most of these cells were corresponding to lymphoid-monocytoid-macrophagocytoid cells with Wright's staining, cytochemical stainings, immunocytochemical stainings, flow cytometry examination, electron microscopy and pathologic study. The bone marrows were hypercellular and marked dysplastic hematopoiesis phenomena. Two of the 7 cases were diagnosed as malignant lymphoma with bone marrow biopsy. All cases characteristically showed no lymph node enlargement or hepatosplenomegaly or any local tumor mass. As to the prognosis of these cases, two patients died with survival time of 8 and 17 months, respectively, one was on critical condition at course of 10 months, and the other 4 cases were in comparatively stable condition with courses of 2.5 to 24 months. These patients seem to be a group of rare malignant lymphoid-monocytoid-macrophagocytoid proliferative diseases.

A Nude Mouse Model for Human Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation / 中国实验血液学杂志

To evaluate the hematopoietic potentiality and the migration and homing routine of separated as well as cryopreserved umbilical cord blood hematopoietic cells, the BALB/cnu(+) mice were used to establish a murine model. This can prepare for the clinical transplantation and the establishment of a large-scale cord blood bank. The result indicated that the hydroxyethyl starch (HES) sedimentation and DMSO step-by-step cryopreservation procedure resulted in only less losses of hematopoietic progenitor cells and also unharmful to the hematopietic potentiality. We can found evidence for successful transplantation in each mouse which received (1.0 - 2.0) x 10(7) separated or cryopresered hematopoietic cells from cord blood, which lasted for about fifty days. The results demonstrated that (1) HES sedimentation and DMSO cryopreservation procedure can keep the hematopoietic potentiality of cord blood, and so can be used to clinical transplantation or establishment of a cord blood bank; (2) Rich hematopoietic stem cells in human cord blood can cross the xenogenetic barriers and successfully engraft mice; (3) The hematopoietic cells migrated among bone marrow, liver, spleen, lung and kidney in the mice and homed to bone marrow by the end. Cryopreservation may influence the adhesion molecule on the hematopoietic cells and the homing behaviour, but not influence their hematopoietic potentiality.