A human parvovirus-like virus inhibits haematopoietic colony formation in vitro

Abstract

Viruses have been shown to cause bone marrow aplasia in animals^1,2 and have been implicated in bone marrow failure in man^3–6; however, until recently, a specific link between human viral infection and bone marrow failure has not been proven. In 1975 Cossart and colleagues found a serum parvovirus-like virus (SPLV, sometimes referred to as B19) in human serum⁷. Antibody to this virus is present in the sera of 30–45% of healthy adults (Y. E. Cossart, P. P. Mortimer, unpublished observations). However, evidence for a direct link came from work by Pattison et al. who found five children with transient aplastic crisis of sickle cell disease and evidence of active infection with SPLV⁸. This association was later confirmed in a large series of children with sickle cell disease and aplastic crisis in Jamaica⁹. We have studied the effects of virus-containing material on haematopoiesis, using in vitro colony-forming assays to look for direct evidence for a role of SPLV in bone marrow aplasia. We show here that SPLV-containing sera inhibit erythropoiesis in culture. Moreover, in a child with hereditary spherocytosis who developed transient aplastic crisis, a strong inhibitory effect of the patient's serum on erythropoiesis correlated with the presence of virus.