Clonal analysis of agnogenic myeloid metaplasia.

Agnogenic myeloid metaplasia (AMM) is a chronic myeloproliferative disorder that leads to a sustained proliferation of megakaryocytes and an increase of reticulin fibers within the bone marrow. Blood and bone marrow samples from patients with advanced AMM with fully developed myelofibrosis as well as cases in the cellular phase of the disease were investigated for clonality. Clonality was studied by X-linked restriction length polymorphism in conjunction with DNA methylation patterns. Granulocytes and total bone marrow cells proved to be monoclonal in origin whereas at least a minor portion of the peripheral lymphocytes were not clonally derived. Our findings indicate that the cellular phase of AMM as well as the fully developed disease progressed to myelofibrosis represent a monoclonal proliferation of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells.