Immunophenotypic features of granulocytes, monocytes, and blasts in myelodysplastic syndromes.
BACKGROUND
Despite the diagnostic utility of immunophenotyping for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), it has not been widely performed, and reports on this are absent in Korea. We aimed to evaluate the immunophenotypic features of non-blastic granulocytes, monocytes, and blasts in patients with MDS and non-clonal disorders using routine flow cytometry (FCM). Moreover, we evaluated the phenotypic abnormalities of mature cells in leukemic patients.


METHODS
Marrow aspirates from 60 patients, including 18 with MDS, 18 with leukemia, and 24 with non-clonal disorders (control group), were analyzed using FCM. Blasts, non-blast myeloid cells, and monocytes were gated based on CD45 expression and side scatter (SSC). The phenotypes were then compared among the 3 groups.


RESULTS
Compared to non-clonal disorders, the granulocytic lineages of MDS showed decreased SSC (P=0.005), increased CD45 intensity (P=0.020), decreased CD10-positive granulocytes (P= 0.030), and a higher CD56-positive rate (P=0.005). It is noteworthy that similar results were obtained in the leukemia group, and these findings were not related to the phenotypes of the leukemic cells. Using blast and monocytic gating, useful parameters for generating a differential diagnosis were not found.


CONCLUSIONS
Gating the granulocytic region is a relatively easy method for MDS immunophenotyping. Among the parameters studied, SSC, CD10, and CD56 were the most useful for differentiating MDS from non-clonal disorders. While immunophenotypic changes in MDS appear to be useful for differentiating MDS from non-clonal disorders, these changes were also noted in the mature cells of leukemic patients.
Moon
Hee Won
HW
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Huh
Jung Won
JW
Lee
Miae
M
Hong
Ki Sook
KS
Chung
Wha Soon
WS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology; D019002:CD56 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000145:classification*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007938:Leukemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes / Q000145:classification*; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015260:Neprilysin / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype
D019002:CD56 Antigen; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens; D015260:Neprilysin