The monocyte tumor necrosis factor-alpha production in patients with acute leukemia in complete remission

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) production by unstimulated and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated peripheral monocytes has been studied in 17 acute myeioid leukemia (AML) patients, 54 AML patients in complete remission (AML-CR), 9 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients and 13 ALL patients in complete remission (ALL-CR). TNF-α production by the unstimulated monocytes in ALL patients (n - 6, mean: 6.6 ± 4.9 u/ml) was higher than that of normal controls (n = 13, 0.9 ± 0.7 u/ml), AML patients (n = 14, 2.0 ± 2.1 u/ml) and AMLCR patients (n = 21,1.4 ± 1.2 u/ml). TNF-α production by the LPS-stimulated monocytes of the AML-CR patients (n = 54,12.4 ± 13.4 u/ml) was significantly higher than that of the normal controls (n = 21, 3.5 ± 2.5 u/ml) and the AML patients (n = 17, 2.6 ± 2.4 u/ml),p < 0.01, but there were not any significant differences among the AML-CR patients and the ALL patients or the ALL-CR patients.