Soluble angiogenic factors in MDS BM microenvironment.

<p>The box plot compares median levels of sENG, sFLT-1 and sVEGF in BM supernatant fluid of various types of MDS. To measure the levels of angiogenic factors present in the BM supernatant fluid in the different MDS groups, ELISA assays were carried out in the BM supernatant fluid from MDS patients and controls. Whiskers represent the range. Mann-Whitney test showed that sENG concentrations in BM supernatants was higher in RCMD with respect to the healthy cases (<i>p</i><0.005), the remaining low-risk MDS (<i>p</i><0.05) and high-risk patients (<i>p</i> = 0.05) (A). RCDM displayed higher levels of sFLT-1 with respect to the controls (<i>p</i> = 0.001), the remaining low-risk MDS (<i>p</i><0.005) and the high-risk MDS patients (<i>p</i><0.005) (B). No significant differences in sVEGF concentration of MDS groups were found (C). MDS: myelodysplastic syndrome; BM: bone marrow; ENG: endoglin; sFLT-1: fms-like tyrosine kinase 1; VEGF: vascular endothelial grow factor; RCMD: refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia. (Controls n = 24; Low-Risk MDS excluding RCMD n = 15; RCMD n = 15; High-Risk MDS n = 6).