Fetal haemoglobin synthesis following fetal liver transplantation in man

Transplantation of haematopoietic tissue from the fetus to the adult is of considerable clinical and theoretical interest. In particular it could help to understand whether the haemoglobin switch is under the influence of environmental factors or inherently programmed in the haemopoietic cell population. In the present study we have monitored haemoglobin synthesis following fetal liver transplantation (FLT) in a patient with acute leukaemia after intensive chemoradiotherapy. 28 days following FLT, the haemoglobin synthesis showed a predominantly fetal haemoglobin pattern, as determined by globin chain synthesis of bone marrow cells and by the peroxidase anti-peroxidase (PAP) method applied to bone marrow sections treated with anti-fetal haemoglobin antibodies. These findings demonstrate that, in man, fetal haemopoietic cells, transplanted into an adult environment, do not immediately switch to the production of adult haemoglobin.