THE LEVELS OF GRANULOCYTE COLONY-STIMULATING-FACTOR IN THE PLASMA OF THE BONE-MARROW ASPIRATE IN VARIOUS HEMATOLOGICAL DISORDERS

We developed a sensitive method of measurement of granulocyte colony-s timulating factor (G-CSF) by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, whi ch we applied in the plasma of the bone marrow aspirate in 70 patients with various hematological disorders, The lowest limit of detection b y this method is 2 pg/ml, G-CSF was detected in all but two of the pat ients, Compared to the G-CSF lever in normal healthy controls, those i n non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma, aplastic anemia, agranulocytosis a nd multiple myeloma were sig nificantly higher, while the level in ref ractory anemia was not different, The G-CSF level in acute myelogenous leukemia patients was either elevated or decreased regardless of the French-American-British subgroup, The level in acute lymphoblastic leu kemia was not different from the normal value, as was that in refracto ry anemia with an excess of blasts, and that in chronic lymphocytic le ukemia. A patient with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia showed initial elevation of G-CSF with normalization after entering complete remissio n, The G-CSF level in chronic myelogenous leukemia was significantly d ecreased, although one patient in hematological remission who was unde r cr-interferon therapy showed normal levels, The level in polycythemi a vera was not significantly different from the normal value. The G-CS F level for the entire group showed an inverse, although not statistic ally significant, correlation with the percentages of myeloid cells of the bone marrow (r = -0.174, p = 0.1703, n = 80). These results are t hought to reflect the regulatory mechanism of granulopoiesis in the bo ne marrow in various hematological disorders, concluded that this meth od may be of clinical use in the treatment of patients with these diso rders and in the selection of candidates likely to benefit from G-CSF administration.