Evaluation of Tissue Factor Bearing Microparticles as Biomarkers in Allogeneic Stem-Cell Transplantation

• DOI: 10.1097/tp.0b013e318223307f
• Publication Date: 2011-06-16T21:10:36Z
• Authors: Christiane De Rop; Michael Stadler; Stefanie Buchholz; Roswith Eisert; Arnold Ganser; Arne Trummer
• Keywords: Adult; Blood Platelets; Male; Mucositis; 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; Adolescent; Incidence; Graft vs Host Disease; Middle Aged; Flow Cytometry; Hematologic Diseases; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; Cell-Derived Microparticles; Predictive Value of Tests; Recurrence; Risk Factors; Humans; Female; Endothelium, Vascular; Prospective Studies; Biomarkers; Aged

There is compelling evidence that blood-borne tissue factor that is predominantly found on circulating microparticles (MPs) plays an important role in both, cancer biology and organ and stem-cell transplantation (SCT). Therefore, we hypothesized that numbers of tissue factor bearing MPs might be associated with complications and outcome in allogeneic SCT (allo-SCT).In a prospective study, we enumerated total, platelet, endothelial, and tissue factor bearing MPs in plasma samples obtained from up to 60 patients with hematologic diseases at different time-points during the course of allo-SCT by flow cytometry. Patient- and transplant-related risk factors were included in statistical analysis.Mean follow-up time was 968 days (0-1981 days). Thirty-four (56.7%) patients died, 17 due to transplant-related mortality (28.3%). High numbers of tissue factor positive MPs more than 500/μL before conditioning were predictive for shorter overall survival (P=0.017, hazard ratio=4.5) in multivariate analysis. This was mainly caused by an increase in transplant-related mortality (P=0.010, hazard ratio=11.0) with cumulative incidences at 1 year of 68.8% compared with patients with lower values (20.1%; P=0.002).Tissue factor bearing MPs might be useful biomarkers for risk stratification in allo-SCT patients and further studies should investigate their origin, functional properties, and optimal cut-off values.