M-ficolin in children with cancer.
OBJECTIVE
M-ficolin (ficolin-1) is a complement-activating pattern-recognition molecule structurally related to mannan-binding lectin. It is produced by monocytes and neutrophils, and is found in serum. Its biological role is largely unknown. We assessed M-ficolin concentration in serum from pediatric cancer patients. The aim of this study was to explore association of M-ficolin with clinical and hematological parameters, and to investigate whether the risk of chemotherapy-related infections was related to M-ficolin concentrations in serum.


METHODS
M-ficolin was measured by time-resolved immunofluorometric assay in serum taken at cancer diagnosis and was correlated with peripheral blood counts and bone marrow examinations performed at the same time.


RESULTS
Median M-ficolin concentration in 94 children with cancer was 1.6 μg/mL (interquartile range, 0.57-2.7; range, 0.055-25.8), and was not different from age-matched controls (median, 1.7 μg/mL; p=0.92). M-ficolin was strongly associated with absolute counts of neutrophils (Spearman's rho, 0.45; 95%-CI, 0.26-0.65; p<0.001), monocytes (0.34; 0.12-0.55; p<0.001), and thus phagocytes (0.42; 0.20-0.63; p<0.001) in peripheral blood. Similarly, M-ficolin correlated strongly with neutrophils (0.36; 0.14-0.59; p=0.002) and phagocytes (0.31; 0.08-0.54; p=0.009) in bone marrow. Low serum M-ficolin (≤0.5 μg/mL) was not associated with an increased incidence of fever in neutropenia during chemotherapy (multivariate Poisson rate ratio, 1.04; 95%-CI, 0.68-1.60; p=0.85).


CONCLUSIONS
The concentration of M-ficolin in serum from children with cancer was strongly associated with neutrophil and monocyte counts in blood and bone marrow. These results suggest that M-ficolin concentrations in serum reflect the pool of phagocytes.
Department of Pediatrics, Inselspital, University of Bern, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland. luregn.schlapbach@insel.ch
Luregn J
LJ
Schlapbach
Steffen
S
Thiel
Christoph
C
Aebi
Andreas
A
Hirt
Kurt
K
Leibundgut
Jens C
JC
Jensenius
Roland A
RA
Ammann
D000293:Adolescent; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002452:Cell Count; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D037582:Complement Pathway, Mannose-Binding Lectin; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007239:Infections / Q000209:etiology; D037102:Lectins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000209:etiology; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000473:pathology*; D051192:Receptors, Pattern Recognition / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D000097604:Ficolins
D037102:Lectins; D051192:Receptors, Pattern Recognition; D000097604:Ficolins