International Journal of Cell Cloning, Vol 10, 338-343, Copyright © 1992 by AlphaMed Press
Peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitor cells in beta-thalassemia major
JS Chen, KH Lin and CJ Tsao
Department of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Colony assays in methylcellulose (semisolid medium) of erythroid precursors
and granulocyte-macrophage precursors from the peripheral blood of 34
patients with beta-thalassemia major and 31 age-matched normal controls
were studied. In patients homozygous for beta- thalassemia, a significant
increase of circulating erythroid progenitor cells to 3-5 times of normal
controls was observed. Furthermore, the number of circulating colony
forming units-granulocyte-macrophage (CFU- GM) and colony forming
units-mixed (CFU-Mixed) also increased significantly. In these subjects,
there was a linear relationship between the number of burst forming
units-erythroid (BFU-E) and CFU-GM. The serum level of erythropoietin (EPO)
was also significantly higher than that of normal controls (p < 0.05).
The increased hematopoiesis, indicated by an increased number of
circulating hematopoietic progenitor cells and an elevated serum level of
EPO, suggests that the physiologic regulation of erythropoiesis still
operated in patients with beta-thalassemia major.
