Autonomous Growth of Committed Hematopoietic Progenitors from Peripheral Blood of Workers Exposed to Low Levels of Benzene

Miriam Quitt, Aliza Cassel, Anatol Yoffe, Anna Maria Anatol, Paul Froom*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigated whether exposure to low levels of benzene (geometric mean of exposures = 0.28-0.41 parts per million) results in perturbations of the hemopoietic system found in patients with myeloproliferative diseases. Erythroid (BFU-E) and granulocyte-monocyte (CFU-GM) colonies from peripheral blood were grown in methylcellulose with and without the addition of cytokines (erythropoietin and granulocyte-stimulating factor). Colony growth from 17 workers exposed to low levels of benzene was compared with 20 healthy control subjects. Exposed workers had significantly increased growth of autonomous BFU-E and unstimulated CFU-GM when compared with the control subjects. Unexposed smokers had increased colony growth without the addition of cytokines. Colony growth was not significantly different between the groups after the addition of cytokines. Workers exposed to low concentrations of benzene and unexposed smokers have increased cytokine-independent hematopoiesis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)27-29
Number of pages3
JournalJournal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Volume46
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2004
Externally publishedYes

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