Desialylation is associated with apoptosis and phagocytosis of platelets in patients with prolonged isolated thrombocytopenia after allo-HSCT

• Published in: Journal of hematology and oncology 2015-10, Vol.8 (1), p.116-116, Article 116
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xiao-Hui, Wang, Qian-Ming, Zhang, Jia-Min, Feng, Fei-Er, Wang, Feng-Rong, Chen, Huan, Zhang, Yuan-Yuan, Chen, Yu-Hong, Han, Wei, Xu, Lan-Ping, Liu, Kai-Yan, Huang, Xiao-Jun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acids; Adolescent; Adult; Analysis; Anemia; Apoptosis; Blood platelets; Blood Platelets - metabolism; Bone marrow; Care and treatment; Cell Line, Tumor; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Complications and side effects; Enzymes; Female; Galactose; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Health aspects; Hematology; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation - adverse effects; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation - methods; Hematopoietic stem cells; Humans; Immunoblotting; Leukemia; Macrophages; Male; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Middle Aged; Neuraminidase - genetics; Neuraminidase - metabolism; Oncology; Organic acids; Phagocytosis; Platelet Count; Platelet Glycoprotein GPIb-IX Complex - metabolism; Prognosis; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Sialic Acids - blood; Sialic Acids - metabolism; Stem cell transplantation; Thrombocytopenia; Thrombocytopenia - blood; Thrombocytopenia - etiology; Transplantation; Transplantation, Homologous; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1756-8722; 1756-8722
• DOI: 10.1186/s13045-015-0216-3

Prolonged isolated thrombocytopenia (PT) is a frequent complication in patients who undergo allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), and it is associated with an adverse prognosis. In this study, we hypothesized that desialylation on platelet surfaces was associated with PT after allo-HSCT. The mechanisms participating in this process may include NEU1 translocation, platelet apoptosis, and phagocytosis by macrophages. PT was defined as a peripheral platelet count less than 100 × 10(9)/L without sustained anemia or leukopenia for more than 3 months after allo-HSCT. 34 patients were identified consecutively from a cohort of 255 patients who underwent allo-HSCT for hematologic malignancies between May and October 2014 at Peking University Institute of Hematology. Desialylation, enzyme expression, and phagocytosis were detected using flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, RT-PCR, Western blot, and so on. Platelets from the PT patients had significantly fewer sialic acids (P = .001) and increased β-galactose exposure indicative of desialylation on the surface (P = .042), and serum from the PT patients showed a higher sialic acid concentration (8.400 ± 0.2209 μmol/L, P