Disruption of bone marrow stromal cell function by etoposide

Long-term deficits in hematopoietic reconstitution following aggressive chemotherapeutic regimens used before transplantation may be a result, in part, of damage to the bone marrow microenvironment. Disruption of the hematopoietic microenvironment is indicated by delays in functional recovery of the immune system in spite of delivery of healthy peripheral blood or bone marrow progenitor cells. Cultures of primary human bone marrow stromal cells and a cloned murine stromal cell line, S10, were evaluated for functional changes following in vitro exposure to the chemotherapeutic agent, etoposide (VP-16). Stromal cells had reduced capacity to support lymphoid or myeloid cell proliferation following chemotherapy treatment. A consistent reduction of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) on bone marrow stromal cells also followed VP-16 exposure. These observations indicate that functional disruption of the bone marrow microenvironment by chemotherapeutic regimens must be considered when attempting to optimize patient recovery from hematopoietic transplantation.