The Study Of Angiogenesis In The Bone Marrow Of Leukemia Patients

Objective: To investigate the relation between the angiogenesis of the bone marrow and the level of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in the bone marrow fluid in leukemia patients. Methods: Immunohistochemical technique (EnVison) was employed to stain microvascular endothelial cells in each bone marrow specimen section with anti-human von Willbrand factor,then MVDs of all groups were calculated respectively. ELISA was employed to measure the level of VEGF in the bone marrow fluid. Results: MVDs of AML group,ALL group and CML group were significantly higher than those in nomal controls(P <0.05),and there was no difference within any two treatment groups(P >0.05).The VEGF level in the bone marrow fluid of AML group and CML group was enhanced significantly compared with that of normal control(P <0.01),and VEGF level in the bone marrow fluid of CML was higher than that in AML group(P <0.05), but VEGF were not significantly increased in ALL(P >0.05).By analysing the correlations between the level of VEGF and MVD in all groups ,we found a direct correlation between the levels of VEGF and MVD in AML group(r=0.648, P <0.05)or CML group(r=0.733, P <0.05). Conclusions: Increased MVDs in the bone marrow of leukemia patients suggest that angiogenesis might play an important role in the pathogenesis of leukemia. VEGF might promote angiogenesis in bone marrow partly.