title: Pure red blood cell aplasia associated with paraproteinemia: in vitro studies of erythropoiesis.
abstract: Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) and monoclonal gammopathy were detected simultaneously in a 57 year old man with severe anemia. While erythroid burst forming units (BFU-E) were absent from blood, his bone marrow contained a high normal number of BFU-E in the absence of morphologically recognizable erythroid precursors. Serum from the patient did not inhibit the growth of BFU-E from normal blood suggesting that his PRCA was not antibody mediated. These studies suggest that in the patient the inability to produce erythrocytes was due to a block in the maturation of BFU-E; however, they do not indicate an etiology for this block. The absence of blood BFU-E and their abundance in the marrow may result from selective trapping of these cells by the marrow-blood barrier.
mesh_terms: D001803:Blood Transfusion; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004920:Erythropoiesis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010265:Paraproteinemias / Q000150:complications*; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012010:Red-Cell Aplasia, Pure / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D013156:Splenectomy
chemical_list: D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D011241:Prednisone