Mechanism of Prednisolone-Induced Leucocytosis in Man

Effect of Prednisolone on the Leucocytosis Inducing Activity of Serum in Patients with Acute and Chronic Granulocytic Leukaemia

“…This phenomenon is the exact opposite, so to say the 'mirror image', of what we used to regard as the 'normal' reaction to prednisolone. As has been demonstrated in a previous study (11), if the haemopoietic apparatus is unimpaired, prednisolone treatment induces a temporary but considerable elevation in the leucocytosis inducing activity of the serum. It is thereafter the 'humoral factor' which starts the production of granulo cytes in cases of agranulocytosis and enhances their production in other cases.…”

Granulocyte Alkaline Phosphatase Activity: A Measure of the Emergence Time of Mature Marrow Neutrophils?

“…In fact, although the majority of our 66 chron ic granulocytic leukaemia cases exhibited quite low numbers of alkaline phosphatase positive cells, normal or elevated counts occurred at each time period of the process (46% in its 1st year, 25% in years 2, 3, 4, 5, and 31°/o in years 6 and 6+), despite the exclusion of the periods of blastic transformation from the material.3 In 5 out of 8 determinations performed of 3 chronic granulocytic leu kaemia patients who were inadvertently rendered aplastic by chemothera py, R osner et al [7] found marked increases in enzyme level, and in at least one patient, a bone marrow chromosome preparation, performed at a time when the enzyme level was markedly increased, showed the Phila delphia chromosome in all evaluable mitoses. Further, leukocyte alkaline phosphatase is able to return in chronic granulocytic leukaemia mar- 3 These results are based on absolute counts of circulating alkaline phosphatase positive granulocytes and are, therefore, not directly comparable to the results which depend on scoring technique. row cells cultured in a diffusion chamber system [8].…”

“…Owing to the fact that, in general, enzyme activity diminishes with cell age, the deci sive role of cell life-span was considered [1], but it was subsequently suggested that granulocytes released from the bone marrow, either as a result of some injury, or of external stimulation, such as endotoxin or ethiocholanolone, are alkaline phosphatase negative [2][3][4] and positivity develops subsequently in the vascular bed. In this sense, a shift to alka line phosphatase negative cells would mean something like reticulocytosis.…”

Periodic Hematopoiesis in Human Cyclic Neutropenia

“…Received for publication 24 May 1973 and in revised form 23 July 1973. cyclic neutropenia and to define the mechanism of its production we have performed detailed studies of the peripheral blood counts and the formation and fate of blood cells in four patients. The present studies indicate that in man, as in the grey collie dog, cyclic fluctuations of all blood elements occur.…”