title: Soluble c-kit ligand production by bone marrow stromal cells is independent of the degree of neutropenia in patients with chronic idiopathic neutropenia.
abstract: The levels of soluble c-kit ligand (sKL), also known as Steel factor or stem cell factor, were measured in blood serum and long-term bone marrow culture supernatants of 81 patients with chronic idiopathic neutropenia (CIN) and 22 normal controls using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We found that the levels of serum and culture supernatant sKL did not differ significantly between patients and control subjects and that both serum and supernatant values of the cytokine did not correlate with the number of circulating neutrophils. Furthermore, we found that the levels of the culture supernatant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), also measured by ELISA, were significantly increased in the patients compared to controls but individual G-CSF values did not correlate with the values of supernatant sKL. These findings suggest that sKL-producing cells continuously secrete sKL and that cytokine secretion is independent of the degree of neutropenia or the levels of supernatant G-CSF in patients with CIN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, University of Crete School of Medicine, P.O. Box 1352, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. epapadak@med.uoc.gr
authors.forename: Helen A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Papadaki
authors.forename: Charalampos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pontikoglou
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stavroulaki
authors.forename: Dimitris G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Eliopoulos
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mavroudi
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spanoudakis
authors.forename: George D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Eliopoulos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor