Chapter 102. Aplastic Anemia, Myelodysplasia, and Related Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes (Part 5)

Pathophysiology Bone marrow failure results from severe damage to the hematopoietic cell compartment. In aplastic anemia, replacement of the bone marrow by fat is apparent in the morphology of the biopsy specimen (Fig. 102-1) and MRI of the spine. Cells bearing the CD34 antigen, a marker of early hematopoietic cells, are greatly diminished, and in functional studies, committed and primitive progenitor cells are virtually absent; in vitro assays have suggested that the stem cell pool is reduced to ≤1% of normal in severe disease at the time of presentation.Figure 102-1A. Normal bone marrow biopsy. B. Normal bone marrow aspirate...
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Chapter 102. Aplastic Anemia, Myelodysplasia, and Related Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes (Part 5) Chapter 102. Aplastic Anemia, Myelodysplasia, and Related Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes (Part 5) Pathophysiology Bone marrow failure results from severe damage to the hematopoietic cellcompartment. In aplastic anemia, replacement of the bone marrow by fat isapparent in the morphology of the biopsy specimen (Fig. 102-1) and MRI of thespine. Cells bearing the CD34 antigen, a marker of early hematopoietic cells, aregreatly diminished, and in functional studies, committed and primitive progenitorcells are virtually absent; in vitro assays have suggested that the stem cell pool isreduced to ≤1% of normal in severe disease at the time of presentation. Figure 102-1 A. Normal bone marrow biopsy. B. Normal bone marrow aspirate smear.The marrow is normally 30–70% cellular, and there is a heterogeneous mix ofmyeloid, erythroid, and lymphoid cells. C. Aplastic anemia biopsy. D. Marrowsmear in aplastic anemia. The marrow shows replacement of hematopoietic tissueby fat and only residual stromal and lymphoid cells. An intrinsic stem cell defect exists for the constitutional aplastic anemias:cells from patients with Fanconis anemia exhibit chromosome damage and deathon exposure to certain chemical agents. Telomeres are short in a large proportionof patients with aplastic anemia, and mutations in genes of the telomere repaircomplex (TERC and TERT) can be identified in some adults with apparentlyacquired marrow failure and without physical anomalies or typical family history. Aplastic anemia does not appear to result from defective stroma or growthfactor production. Drug Injury Extrinsic damage to the marrow follows massive physical or chemicalinsults such as high doses of radiation and toxic chemicals. For the more commonidiosyncratic reaction to modest doses of medical drugs, altered drug metabolismhas been invoked as a likely mechanism. The metabolic pathways of many drugsand chemicals, especially if they are polar and have limited water solubility,involve enzymatic degradation to highly reactive electrophilic compounds; theseintermediates are toxic because of their propensity to bind to cellularmacromolecules. For example, derivative hydroquinones and quinolones areresponsible for benzene-induced tissue injury. Excessive generation of toxicintermediates or failure to detoxify the intermediates may be geneticallydetermined and apparent only on specific drug challenge; the complexity andspecificity of the pathways imply multiple susceptibility loci and would provide anexplanation for the rarity of idiosyncratic drug reactions.