Circulating levels of thrombopoietic and inflammatory cytokines in patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

Background: The regulation of megakaryocytopoiesis and thrombopoiesis appears to be under the control of an array of hematopoietic growth factors. The regulatory mechanism of endogenous cytokines in circulating platelet counts of thrombocytopenic patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is still not clear.

Methods: We measured the serum levels of both thrombopoietic and inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood and bone marrow samples collected from 52 patients with either AML or MDS along with 35 normal control samples.