Enhanced granulocyte function in a case of chronic granulocytic leukemia in a dog

Chronic granulocytic leukemia is a rare myeloproliferative disorder in dogs. The present study investigated various functions of leukemic granulocytes in a dog that presented with thrombocytopenic purpura, anaemia and a classical leukemic hemogram. All analyses were performed in parallel with a control dog. Purification of the leukemic granulocytes by density gradient centrifugation revealed three neutrophil and neutrophil precursor populations with different densities. Comparison of cell morphology and density showed that cell density increased with increasing maturity. The control dog possessed only one neutrophil population, with a density greater than 1.077. Analysis of cellular contents of the granular enzymes, elastase, myeloperoxidase and lysozyme showed that leukemic neutrophils were quantitatively markedly different from normal neutrophils with respect to enzyme activities. There were no major differences between leukemic and normal cells as regards aggregatory and migratory responses to different stimuli. The phagocytic capacity of the leukemic cells, however, was dramatically increased compared with the control, and exceeded all previously encountered responses in the assay employed. In a similar fashion, superoxide generation and secretion of elastase and lysozyme in response to zymosan and phorbol myristate acetate were substantially higher than in the control dog. Priming of cell function to a level exceeding that normally attainable in neutrophils appears to have taken place in peripheral blood of the leukemic dog. The only endogenous mediator known to prime neutrophil functions to the extent seen in the present case is the cytokine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), which is intimately involved in regulation of myelopoiesis in mammals. On the basis of the enzymological and functional findings in the leukemic dog, we hypothesize that a lactoferrin deficiency in leukemic neutrophils leads to enhanced GM-CSF synthesis, which is ultimately the cause of the observed cellular hyperresponsiveness and contributes to the monocytosis seen in the patient.