Quantification and cytokine production of circulating lymphoid and myeloid cells in acute myelogenous leukaemia

• Published in: Leukemia Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. 716 - 730
• Main Authors: PANOSKALTSIS, N, REID, C. D. L, KNIGHT, S. C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 01.04.2003; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antigens, CD - analysis; Antigens, Neoplasm - analysis; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Beads; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; CD3 antigen; CD4 antigen; CD45 antigen; CD8 antigen; Chemotherapy; Cytokines; Female; Flow cytometry; Flow Cytometry - economics; Flow Cytometry - methods; Fluorescence; Hematologic and hematopoietic diseases; Humans; Immunology; Immunophenotyping - economics; Immunophenotyping - methods; Immunotherapy; Interferon; Interferon-gamma - blood; Interleukin 10; Interleukin 12; Interleukin-10 - blood; Interleukin-12 - blood; Interleukin-4 - blood; Intracellular; Labeling; Leukemia; Leukemia, Myeloid - blood; Leukemia, Myeloid - drug therapy; Leukemias. Malignant lymphomas. Malignant reticulosis. Myelofibrosis; Leukocyte Count; Lymphocyte Count; Lymphocyte Subsets - metabolism; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Monocytes; Monocytes - metabolism; Myeloid cells; Neoplasm Proteins - blood; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; Neoplastic Stem Cells - metabolism; Patients; Prospective Studies; Recovery; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Subtraction Technique; γ-Interferon; Human; Lymphoid cell; Acute; T cell; Cytokine; Malignant hemopathy; Myeloid cell; Cell subpopulation; T-Lymphocyte; immunotherapy; leukaemia; flow cytometry; Acute myelocytic leukemia
• ISSN: 0887-6924; 1476-5551
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.leu.2402835

A simple assay was developed to assess the potential of patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) to respond to immunotherapy. Lymphocytes, monocytes and leukaemic blasts with their corresponding intracellular cytokine profiles were evaluated by four-colour flow cytometry. In 50 microl samples of whole blood, surface labelling for CD45, CD8 and CD3 was used for cell identification prior to intracellular staining for interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10, IL-12 and interferon (IFN)-gamma. Absolute numbers of CD8(+) and CD8(-) (putative CD4(+)) T-cells, NK cells (CD8(+)/CD3(-)) and monocytes were determined by reference to a fixed number of added fluorescent beads. The absolute numbers of CD8(-) and CD8(+) T-cells in the blood of patients with AML were similar to those of normal controls. More of the lymphocytes in the blood of leukaemic patients spontaneously produced cytokines compared with those of controls. Furthermore, primary AML blasts secreted predominantly IFN-gamma. After recovery from chemotherapy, lymphocyte counts tended to be lower than in normals and reduction of NK cells reached significance after the second chemotherapy (P=0.01). A prominent CD8(lo)/CD3(lo-int) lymphocyte subset appeared after recovery in some patients. This laboratory application of the study of cell subsets and intracellular cytokines in patients undergoing treatment may be helpful in monitoring immunological responses in AML.