Observations on the Change from Foetal to Adult Erythropoiesis

Estimation of Foetal Haemoglobin in Leukaemia

“…The two cases of Beaven (21), the 4 cases of H ardisty (18), the single case of Shuster (16) and our two cases were all patients suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia. Beaven (21) and H ardisty (18) considered that these patients were cases of myeloid leukaemia of the ' juvenile' type, which is an atypical form of leukaemia characterised by thrombocytopenia, poor response to treatment, increased foetal haemoglobin levels, and an age-group of 1Y2-3 % years.…”

Effect of Prematurity on the Developmental Progression from Fetal to Adult Thymidine Kinase in Human Serum

“…In this case, prematurity was found to delay the disapperance of fetal hemoglobin by at least 3 weeks, when compared chronologically with full-term infants (4,5). The data reported here indicate that, with respect to TdR kinase in serum, maturation continues in a premature infant after birth at the same rate as it occurs in intrauterine development at equivalent gesta tional age.…”

Fetal Hemoglobin Synthesis in Fraternal and Identical Twins

“…In the current study no significant difference in fetal hemoglobin concentration within pairs for 14 dizygous and 6 monozygous twins by two methods was found, although gross discrepancies were observed in weight, total hemoglobin and clinical appearance. The great difference in fetal hemoglobin concentration by two meth ods was expected after the reports of F raser and Z ipursky [25,26]. Even in three pairs of monozygous twins with greater than 5 g % total hemoglobin differences, no significant change in per cent fetal hemo globin was observed; however, continuous mixing of blood from the vascular anastomoses could have obscured a true difference in fetal hemoglobin synthesis.…”

“…Elevation of fetal hemoglobin concentration has been reported in infants with chronic intrauterine hypoxia, while decreased fetal hemoglobin concentration is found in infants with hemolytic diseases 119-22], Recent in vitro experiments have shown that hypoxia, glucose deficiency, and possibly amino acid deficiencies lead to an increase in fetal hemoglobin formation from reticulocytes in cord blood |23] T h o m a s [24] demonstrated that fetal and adult hemoglobins are synthesized in the liver, spleen and bone marrow. Varying intensities A n d r e w s, F a l k n e r o f fetal erythrocytes on staining by acid elution techniques suggests the presence of fetal and adult hemoglobin in the same cell [25,26]. It is not known whether production o f fetal hemoglobin is the result of intrauterine factors related to the stage of gestation or organ maturation of the hematopoietic system, the stage of enzyme matura tion, placental condition or maternal factors.…”