Expansion of CD8+ /perforin+ effector memory T cells in the bone marrow of patients with thymoma-associated pure red cell aplasia.

摘要

Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) is characterized by normochronic normocytic anaemia, reticulocytopenia, and severe erythroid hypoplasia of the bone marrow. Regarding its pathogenic mechanism, it has been reported that acquired PRCA is accompanied by clonal T-cell expansion in the bone marrow or peripheral blood (Masuda et al, 1997, 1999, 2005; Fujishima et al, 2006). However, it has not been clarified how the T-cell subset proliferates in the bone marrow or peripheral blood. Using bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) obtained from patients with various forms of acquired PRCA, we examined T-cell clonality by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the T-cell subsets by four-color flow cytometry.