Histamine and Serotonin Levels in Bone Marrow Stem Cells Niche as Potential Biomarkers of Systemic Mastocytosis and Myeloproliferative Disorders

Bone marrow studies currently provide a lot of valuable information in the diagnostics of hematological diseases including hematopoietic stem cells disorders. Our studies on low-molecular weight organic compounds in bone marrow stem cell niche in various pathogenic conditions, revealed relatively high variability of histamine levels in different groups of hematological diseases. It was also found that serotonin levels were significantly lower than those typically measured in peripheral blood as well as many have the influence on stem cells proliferative potential. This paper presents findings from quantitative and statistical analyses of histamine and serotonin levels. Bone marrow collected from patients undergoing routine diagnostic procedures for hematological diseases and receiving inpatient treatment were analyzed. Histamine and serotonin levels were measured using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Obtained data were analyzed statistically and correlated with the diagnosed groups of hematological diseases and the parameters of complete blood counts. Histamine was found in all tested samples, including those from patients without malignancy, and the reported levels were comparable to the reference values in blood. This observation allows us to assume that bone marrow cells can produce and accumulate histamine. Moreover, the statistical analysis revealed a significant relationship between histamine levels and diagnosed mastocytosis, and between histamine levels and myeloproliferative neoplasms. Different results were obtained for serotonin, and its concentrations in most cases were below the limit of quantification of the method used (< 0.2 ng/mL), which can only be compared to peripheral blood plasma. In a few cases, significantly higher serotonin levels were observed and it concerned diseases associated with an increased number of megakaryocytes in the bone marrow.