Background and Objectives:
In daily routine stem cell harvests for stem cell transplantation are measured by CD34 antigen and the colony-forming ability (CFU) and checked for viability by 7-amino actinomycin D (7-AAD). We tested whether the stem cell marker ALDH could be useful for characterizing PBSC graft quality.
Materials and Methods:
In a prospective analysis we investigated the ALDH activity in freshly collected PBSC and in frozen products (n = 42) of 25 patients (15 males/10 females, median age 52 yrs., range 21-67). The results were correlated with CD34, viability and engraftment data in already transplanted patients (n = 7).
Results:
In general we found a significant correlation between ALDH activity, CD34 yield and CFU-GM/unit in fresh and thawed products with a p value of < 0.05. A low ALDH activity was predictive for poor stem cell function, expressed as colony forming capacity of collected stem cells.
Conclusion:
The ALDH assay is readily available and provides information about the quality of the majority of leukocyte-apheresis products instantly which may be of special interest for scheduled transplants with long-term stored PBSC.
Author(s): Schulenburg A, Bartuschka A, Rabitsch W, Bojic Marija, Marian B, Traby L, and Leitner GC