THE PROLIFERATIVE CAPACITY OF PURE RED-CELL APLASIA BONE-MARROW CELLS

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 54  (2) , 89-94
Abstract
Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) is a heterogeneous disorder. Immunologic abnormalities have recently been uncovered suggesting that both cell-mediated and humoral immune mechanisms may be of etiological importance in PRCA. Utilizing a technique for the cloning of bone marrow erythroid precursors, the in vitro proliferative capacity of erythroid cells obtained from 21 patients with PRCA were determined. Bone marrow cells from 1 group of patients produced normal or increased numbers of erythroid colonies; the in vitro proliferative capacity of bone marrow cells from a 2nd group was characterized by subnormal erythroid colony formation. Sera obtained from the former group was frequently associated with demonstrable serum inhibitors of erythropoiesis; PRCA in the latter group was probably the consequence of intrinsic erythroid stem cell defects or pathologic cellular interactions with nonerythroid regulatory cells. This survey of a relatively large population of patients with PRCA provides evidence for the multiple causative mechanisms that can be operative in the production of PRCA.