Leukemia inhibitory factor concentrations in the bone marrow plasma of healthy subjects and patients with hematologic malignancies.

Several cytokines may play a role in the pathogenesis of various hematopoietic malignancies. As cytokines work locally, we have investigated leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) concentrations in the bone marrow plasma of healthy subjects and patients with hematopoietic malignancies by using a specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. LIF levels in patient's samples were significantly higher in bone marrow plasmas (330.3 +/- 43.6 pg/ml; n = 29) than LIF levels in blood plasmas (178.9 +/- 16.8 pg/ml; n = 43) (p = 0.0006, Mann-Whitney U-test). Marrow stromal cells which constitutively produce LIF and enhance their synthesis in response to LPS and PMA might be the cell source of the bone marrow-derived LIF. No statistical difference was documented between marrow plasma LIF concentrations of 24 patients with hematological malignancies and healthy controls. At the present time, the role of LIF in the human marrow cytokine network requires further evaluation.