title: Effects of interleukin-4 and interleukin-6 on the proliferation of CD34+ and CD34- blasts from acute myelogenous leukemia.
abstract: We studied the effects of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-6 on the growth of leukemic blasts from 40 patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Patients were selected on the basis of negativity for a series of B-cell antigens including CD10 and CD19. Twenty-one cases were CD34-positive (CD34+) (greater than 15% of blasts) and the remaining 19 were CD34-negative (CD34-) (less than 3% of blasts). IL-4 alone (100 U/ml) could stimulate either DNA synthesis (with greater than 2.0 stimulation index) or leukemic blast colony formation in 24 of 40 AML patients. In the presence of other growth factors, IL-4 showed divergent effects on IL-3-, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor-, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-, or erythropoietin-dependent colony formation. These effects of IL-4 were observed in both CD34+ and CD34- AML cases. IL-6 (100 U/mL) alone could not stimulate DNA synthesis and blast colony formation except for one CD34+ case. On the other hand, IL-6 showed synergistic effects on IL-3- and IL-4-dependent blast colony formation in 10 of 12 and 7 of 9 CD34+ AML cases, respectively. Among CD34- AML cases, such synergism was seen only in 1 of 12 cases for IL-3-dependent colony formation and in 3 of 7 cases for IL-4-dependent colony formation. The divergent effect of IL-4 and the synergistic effect of IL-6 were also observed in purified CD34+ leukemic blast populations, indicating that these phenomena are not mediated by accessory cells. The present study suggests that IL-4, alone or in combination with other growth factors, has divergent effects on the growth of AML progenitors irrespective of the CD34 expression, and that IL-6 acts synergistically with IL-3 or IL-4 on the growth of leukemic progenitors preferentially in CD34+ AML.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akashi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shibuya
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takamatsu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Teshima
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Niho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001752:Blast Crisis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004357:Drug Synergism; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007377:Interleukin-3 / Q000378:metabolism; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D007377:Interleukin-3; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D015847:Interleukin-4; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor