Origin and fate of blood cells deficient in glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein among patients with bone marrow failure.

Peripheral blood from 489 recently diagnosed patients with aplastic anaemia (AA) and 316 with refractory anaemia (RA) of myelodysplastic syndrome was evaluated to characterize CD55(-)CD59(-) [paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH)]-type blood cells associated with bone marrow (BM) failure. PNH-type cells were detected in 57% and 20% of patients with AA and RA, respectively. The percentages of PNH-type granulocytes ranged from 0.003% to 94.2% and the distribution was log-normal with a median of 0.178%. Serial analyses of 75 patients with PNH-type cells over 5 years revealed that the percentage of PNH-type cells constantly increased in 13 (17%), persisted in 44 (59%), disappeared in the remaining 18 (24%) although even in the 'Disappearance' group, PNH-type granulocytes persisted for at least 6 months. A scattergram profile of PNH-type cells unique to each patient persisted regardless of the response to immunosuppressive therapy and only single PIGA mutations were detected in PNH-type granulocytes sorted from four patients. These findings suggest that the PNH-type cells in patients with BM failure are derived from single PIGA mutant haematopoietic stem cells even when their percentages are <1% and their fate depends on the proliferation and self-maintenance properties of the individual PIGA mutants.