Special Education: Aplastic Anemia. (1996)

WHAT IS HYPOPLASTIC ANEMIA? Aplastic anemia is a hematological disease characterized by pancytopenia and bone marrow hypoplasia. Acquired cases of aplastic anemia are almost all idiopathic and arise from unknown causes. Other cases of aplastic anemia are secondary and are caused by radiation, chemicals or viruses. PATHOPHYSIOLOGY: Aplastic anemia is manifested as a marked reduction in the number of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells, but why this occurs is still uncertain. Some of the proposed causes include abnormalities of the hematopoietic stem cells, abnormalities in the hematopoietic microenvironment, and immunologically mediated damage to the hematopoietic stem cells (Figure 1). ABNORMALTIES OF THE HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELLS: Patients with aplastic anemia, and long-term survivors in particular, are at increased risk of developing paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), or acute myelocytic leukemia. This suggests that, in at least some of these patients, the hematopoietic stem cells themselves are abnormal. It also suggests that in some of these patients the blood cells are clonal (that is, all the blood cells are derived from a single pluripotent stem cell). In short, what these findings imply is that aplastic anemia may be caused by the emergence of an abnormal clone. Clonal hematopoiesis, however, can also be considered nothing more than a consequence. In other words, it is possible that hematopoiesis in this kind of patient is performed by a lone pluripotent stem cell that somehow managed to survive eradication. No definitive interpretation of clonal hematopoiesis has been agreed upon, and it is still a topic for future research. ABNORMAL HEMATOPOIETIC MICROENVIRONMENT: The presence of stromal cells, which form the microenvironment of bone marrow, is very important in hematopoiesis. Hematopoietic stem cells proliferate and differentiate either by adhering to stromal cells or by being stimulated by the various hematopoietic factors that stromal cells produce. Therefore, it is quite possible that aplastic anemia is caused by abnormalities in the hematopoietic microenvironment. However, many separate studies have demonstrated that the hematopoietic microenvironment in the vast majority of aplastic anemia cases is normal. IMMUNE MECHANISMS: Immunosuppressive agents are often effective in treating aplastic anemia, and therefore it is believed that immunological mechanisms contribute to the disease in more than half the cases. The following mechanisms have been proposed as causes for the onset of immunologically mediated aplastic anemia: * Decreases in Hematopoietic Factors Produced by Monocytes and Lymphocytes. Some patients with aplastic anemia show decreased production of interleukin 1 (IL-1) by peripheral blood monocytes, and it is possible that a drop in the concentration of this factor is linked to the onset of the disease [1]. It is also possible, however, that decreased IL-1 production by monocytes is not a cause of the disease, but merely a consequence. Moreover, no cases have been reported that exhibit reduced production of hematopoietic factors produced by lymphocytes such as GM-CSF, IL-3, or IL-6. * Damage by Cytokines that Suppress Hematopoiesis. It has been reported that increased levels of interferon &ggr; (IFN-&ggr;), which is produced by lymphocytes, and tumor necrosis factor &agr; (TNF-&agr;), which is produced by monocytes and macrophages, are found in the bone marrow and peripheral blood of aplastic anemia patients [2, 3]. These two factors act as suppressors of hematopoiesis, and it is possible that they contribute to the disease. The increase of these inflammatory cytokines in the bone marrow strongly suggests the presence of either specific or non-specific destruction of the hematopoietic stem cells by immunoregulatory cells. * Suppression of Hematopoiesis by Cytotoxic T Cells (Killer T Cells). Cases have been reported in which cytotoxic T cell clones that damage the autologous hematopoietic precursor cells are present [4]. Therefore, we can easily conceive of a mechanism in which these cytotoxic T cells specifically destroy the hematopoietic stem cells and cause aplastic anemia. * Suppression of Hematopoiesis by Natural Killer (NK) Cells. NK activity of aplastic anemia patients is depressed, and, generally speaking, it is highly unlikely that NK cells contribute to this condition. However, it has been reported that clonal NK cells are thought to cause the disease in patients exhibiting pancytopenia and bone marrow hypoplasia. Therefore, when this disease is diagnosed, a peripheral blood granular lymphocyte count and NK cell surface marker analysis should always be performed. DIAGNOSIS: A necessary condition for the diagnosis of aplastic anemia is the presence of pancytopenia. Moreover, it is necessary to rule out all other causes of pancytopenia. It is especially important in differential diagnosis to look for PNH and MDS. In cases of aplastic anemia there are patients that exhibit PNH during the course of the disease, and this condition is called aplastic anemia-PNH syndrome. It has recently been shown that bone marrow and peripheral blood cells in some patients diagnosed with aplastic anemia are partially lacking GPI anchor proteins (CD16, CD55, and CD59) [5]. Whether such patients become to exhibit aplastic anemia-PNH syndrome in the future remains to be elucidated. In MDS the bone marrow generally exhibits normoplasia or hyperplasia, and only in rare cases does it exhibit hypoplasia. This condition is referred to as hypoplastic MDS. Hypoplastic MDS can be differentiated from aplastic anemia by the presence of abnormal cell morphology that is sometimes accompanied by chromosomal abnormalities. TREATMENT:Aplastic anemia is treated with androgens, high-dose methylprednisolone, cyclosporin A (CyA), antithymocyte globulin (ATG), antilymphocyte globulin (ALG), hematopoietic growth factors such as G-CSF, and bone marrow transplantation. Interestingly, patients who require continuous CyA administration to maintain stable hematopoiesis have a specific HLA class II haplotype (DRB1*1501-DQA1*0102-DQB1*0602) [6]. Recent reports from EBMT SAA Working Party showed the excellent therapeutic result (response rate 82%) when severe cases were treated with ALG, CyA and G-CSF in combination [7].