THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF FAS LIGAND AND INTERFERON GAMMA IN THE
PATHOGENESIS OF BONE MARROW FAILURE
Mohamed Awad*, Doaa
Aladle*, Solafa El-Sharawy**and Nabil Abd El- Razik**
Depts. of Clinical pathology (Hematology Unit)* and
Pediatric Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
Fas ligand (fasL) is a membrane protein that is
expressed in activated T cells and natural killer cells.FasL binds to fas on target cells and induces
apoptosis. Interferon gamma
(INFgamma) is a potent
inhibitor of myeloid colony formation in vitro. In order to investigate the
involvement of fasL and INFd
in the pathogenesis of bone marrow failure, we measured fas L and INF in 33
patients of bone marrow failure (11 with aplastic anemia, 10 with pure red
cell aplasia, 4 with systemic lupus erythromatosis (SLE) and eight patient
under chemotherapy) at time of diagnosis and after remission as well as 13
age-matched healthy control. The serum levels of fas L and INFgamma were significantly increased
at time of diagnosis compared to those of control group (P < 0.001) or
patients after remission (P < 0.05). They were positively correlated
with each of other and negatively correlated with cellularity of bone
marrow (P < 0.05). In conclusion fas ligand and interferon gamma play an important role in
the pathogenesis of bone marrow failure and this can be applied to
therapeutic interventions.