Fibroblast colonies in monolayer cultures of human bone marrow

In a liquid culture of human bone marrow, the development of fibroblast colonies takes place on days 6 to 9. Twenty percent fetal calf serum is used as the stimulus fibroblast colony growth. Human bone marrow cells are plated as 2 x 10(5) cells in the culture. Normal human bone marrow yields 47 +/- 4 fibroblasts colonies per 2 x 10(5) cells plated. Bone marrow fibroblast cultures using agar or methylcellulose restrict colony formation. Marked colony suppression was observed in acute leukemia, and a discrete colony number was observed in hypoplastic anemia. This fibroblast culture method should be applied to a larger number of patients to determine whether it has a pathognomonic value and clinical significance.