Stem cells from peripheral blood and bone marrow: A comparative evaluation of the hemopoietic potential in the dog

Abstract
The kinetics and pattern of hemopoietic recovery after supralethal total‐body irradiation (TBI) were compared after transfusion of cryopreserved autografts derived from peripheral blood and bone marrow. Fractionated TBI was given in three doses of 6 Gy each at intervals of 48 h. Grafts of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) were collected by means of continuous‐flow cen‐trifugation and by using the mobilizing agent, dextran sulphate. Autografts were adjusted to contain equal numbers of committed progenitor cells (CFU‐GM). Dogs grafted with blood‐derived MNC (group A) and with MNC from bone marrow (group B) all received about 1 × 105 CFU‐GM per kg body weight. In all dogs consistent hemopoietic engraftment was achieved. Comparing the pattern of regeneration of the granulocytes, group A dogs showed a significant regeneratory advantage over group B dogs, particularly during the first 20 days after transplantation. Lymphoid recovery was more rapid in group A until day 14. In both groups, blood lymphocytes remained below normal values beyond day 100. The regeneration patterns of the platelets and reticulocytes revealed no significant differences. These results are in agreement with the hypothesis that there are differences in the relationship between CFU‐GM content and hemopoietic potential of autografts from different sources.