The effect of serum lipid levels on peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell levels.

Abstract Introduction There are limited numbers of available retrospective studies on various hematological diseases treated with stem cell mobilization therapy. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate the effects of serum lipid levels on peripheral blood CD34+ (PBCD34+) cell counts as well as the changes in serum lipid levels during stem cell mobilization process. Method PBCD34+ cell counts were compared between hypercholesterolemic patients and healthy individuals. Additionally, total cholesterol (TChol), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) levels were measured from healthy donors who underwent stem cell mobilization, at different time points (prior to filgrastim [phase 1], prior to apheresis [phase II], and the first week following apheresis [phase III]. Results In the hypercholesterolemia group, the PBCD34+ cell count was found to be higher among patients with elevated LDL-C (2.6 ± 0.35/µL vs. 1.7 ± 0.17/µL, p = 0.003) and TChol (2.6 ± 0.34/µL vs. 1.7 ± 0.14/µL, p = 0.006) in comparison to the healthy controls. In the mobilization group, phase II HDL-C levels (35.3 ± 2.8 mg/dL) were found to be lower than both phase I (45.6 ± 2.1 mg/dL) and phase III (44.5 ± 2.6 mg/dL) (p = 0.007). Phase II TChol levels (183.5 ± 10.0 mg/dL) were lower than both phase I (216.8 ± 8.5 mg/dL) and phase III (212.2 ± 8.4 mg/dL) (p = 0.02). At phase II, there was an inverse correlation between PBCD34+ cell count and HDL-C (r=- 0.57, p = 0.003). Discussion Our results indicate that, while increased LDL-C level is the determinant of baseline PBCD34+ cell count, reduced HDL-C is the determinant of PBCD34+ cell count during mobilization process.