Effects of anoxia on megakaryocyte progenitors derived from cord blood CD34^pos cells

Background: Severe hypoxic insults to the fetus and neonate are associated with the development of thrombocytopenia. The thrombocytopenia in some cases is the result of disseminated intravascular coagulation, but that mechanism fails to account for all, perhaps the majority, of cases. Objective: We hypothesized that human fetal megakaryocyte (Mk) progenitors are directly adversely affected by transient anoxia. Design and methods: To test this, we isolated CD34 ^pos cells from the umbilical cord blood of 10 healthy term neonates, and exposed these to 0% or 20% O₂ for 24 h, with or without recombinant thrombopoietin (rTpo, 50 ng/mL). After 24 h, a portion of the CD34^pos cells were harvested for flow cytometric evaluation of apoptosis. The remaining cells were cultured for an additional 10-12 days, under normoxic conditions, in a collagen-based serum-free system containing rTpo, IL-3, and IL-6. In this way, we sought to determine the effect of transient anoxia on clonogenic capacity of Mk progenitors. Results: Contrary to our hypothesis, anoxia did not increase either apoptosis or cell death of the CD34^pos cells. The addition of rTpo was protective, with a significant decrease in apoptosis and cell death (P < 0.0001), and an increase in the number of Mk colonies cultured (P = 0.04). There was no difference between the normoxic and anoxic groups in proliferative potential of the Mk progenitor cells. Conclusions: The thrombocytopenia observed in neonates following an acute hypoxic event is not likely due to a direct deleterious effect of hypoxia on Mk progenitors.