The effect of serum lipid levels on peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell levels.

INTRODUCTION: There are limited numbers of available retrospective studies on various hematological diseases treated with stem cell mobilization therapy. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate the effects of serum lipid levels on peripheral blood CD34+ (PBCD34+) cell counts as well as the changes in serum lipid levels during stem cell mobilization process. METHOD: PBCD34+ cell counts were compared between hypercholesterolemic patients and healthy individuals. Additionally, total cholesterol (TChol), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) levels were measured from healthy donors who underwent stem cell mobilization, at different time points (prior to filgrastim [phase 1], prior to apheresis [phase II], and the first week following apheresis [phase III]. RESULTS: In the hypercholesterolemia group, the PBCD34+ cell count was found to be higher among patients with elevated LDL-C (2.6 ± 0.35/µL vs. 1.7 ± 0.17/µL, p = 0.003) and TChol (2.6 ± 0.34/µL vs. 1.7 ± 0.14/µL, p = 0.006) in comparison to the healthy controls. In the mobilization group, phase II HDL-C levels (35.3 ± 2.8 mg/dL) were found to be lower than both phase I (45.6 ± 2.1 mg/dL) and phase III (44.5 ± 2.6 mg/dL) (p = 0.007). Phase II TChol levels (183.5 ± 10.0 mg/dL) were lower than both phase I (216.8 ± 8.5 mg/dL) and phase III (212.2 ± 8.4 mg/dL) (p = 0.02). At phase II, there was an inverse correlation between PBCD34+ cell count and HDL-C (r = - 0.57, p = 0.003). DISCUSSION: Our results indicate that, while increased LDL-C level is the determinant of baseline PBCD34+ cell count, reduced HDL-C is the determinant of PBCD34+ cell count during mobilization process.

Evaluation of bone mineral density and related parameters in patients with haemophilia: a single center cross-sectional study.

Haemophilia has been associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) probably due to some predisposing factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between BMD and potential clinical predictors in adult haemophilic patients. Fortynine patients with moderate and severe haemophilia were enrolled. BMD was measured by Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA) and blood tests were performed for vitamin D, calcium, phosphore, alkaline phosphatase and parathormone levels. Functional Independence Score in Haemophilia (FISH) and Haemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS) were used to assess musculoskeletal functions. Body mass index (BMI), Hepatitis C virus (HCV)/Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositivity and smoking status were also recorded. BMD was found lower than expected for reference age in 34.8% of patients of less than 50 years old. In patients older than 50 years, 66.6% of them had osteoporosis and 33.3% of them had normal BMD. FISH score was statistically significant correlated with BMD of total hip (TH) and femur neck (FN) but not with lumbar spine (LS). In eligible patients, there was also a statistically significant correlation between BMD of TH and HJHS. Vitamine D deficiency was common and found in 77.5% of patients, although there was no significant correlation with BMD. Also no correlation was found between BMD and blood tests, HCV/HIV status, BMI and smoking. This study confirmed that patients with haemophilia have an increased prevelance of low BMD even in younger group. Our results showed that there are significant correlations between FISH score and BMD of TH and FN and also between HJHS score and BMD of TH. Thus, using scoring systems may be beneficial as a simple predictors of BMD to reflect the severity of haemophilic arthropathy.

TET2, ASXL1, IDH1, and IDH2 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Turkish Patients with Chronic Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.

We aimed to determine the genotype distribution, allele frequency, and prognostic impact of IDH1/2, TET2, and ASXL1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). TET2 (rs763480), ASXL1 (rs2208131), and IDH1 (rs11554137) variant homozygous genotype frequencies were found at rates of 1.5%, 9.2%, and 2.3%, respectively. No IDH2 SNP was identified. IDH1 and TET2 frequencies were 5% in essential thrombocythemia (ET) and 1.7% in ET and 5% in primary myelofibrosis (PMF), respectively. ASXL1 frequencies were 8.3%-10% in MPN subgroups. The TET2 mutant allele T and ASXL1 mutant allele G had the highest frequencies with 0.272 in the PMF and 0.322 in the polycythemia vera (PV) group, respectively. There was no impact of the SNPs on prognosis. IDH1 frequency in MPNs was found similar to the literature. ASXL1 frequencies were similar between ET, PV, and PMF patients. The ASXL1 and TET2 allele frequencies of the Turkish population are similar to those of the European population. The role of SNPs in MPNs might be further evaluated in larger multicenter studies.