To our knowledge, no large studies reporting bone marrow (BM) derived cell counts of children and adults with non-malignant diseases have been published so far. Thus, the primary objective was to evaluate BM-derived CD34+ and leukocyte cell counts in 729 female and male patients of different age groups who underwent autologous cell-based therapy for non-malignant diseases.
For this study, a retrospective data analysis of laboratory parameters including BM-aspirated and post-centrifuge concentrated CD34+ cells and leukocytes was performed. Associations and differences of cell counts between age groups, gender, and diagnose related group were evaluated.
Included were data of 187 female and 542 male patients aged between 2 and 75 years, who underwent autologous cell-based therapy for various non-malignant diseases. The median percentage of CD34+ cells of leukocytes was 1.10% in BM-aspirate (BMA) and 0.96% in post-centrifuge BMA concentrate (BMAC). Significant moderate positive correlations were observed between CD34+ cells (count/μl) and leukocytes (count/μl) in BMA and in BMAC. Significant strong negative correlations were detected between age (years) and CD34+ cells (count/μl/kg) in BMA and in BMAC. No significant differences regarding CD34+ cells (count/μl) in BMA were detected between adults, while significant differences regarding cell counts were detected between diagnose related groups, but not between females and males.
This study including 729 patients with various non-malignant diseases showed that approximately 1% of leukocytes were CD34+ cells in BMA and in BMAC. While BM-derived CD34+ cells were significantly higher in younger patients, similar cell counts were detected within adults.