High frequency of several PIG-A mutations in patients with aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndrome

To clarify some characteristics of phosphatidylinositol glycan-class A gene (PIG-A) mutations in aplastic anemia (AA) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients compared with those in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) patients, we investigated PIG-A mutations in CD59(-) granulocytes and CD48(-) monocytes from seven AA, eight MDS, and 11 PNH Japanese patients. The most frequent base or type abnormalities of the PIG-A gene in AA and MDS patients were base substitutions or missense mutations, respectively, and deletions or frameshift mutations, respectively, in PNH patients. Several PIG-A mutations, most of which were statistically minor, were found in glycosylphosphatidylinositol-negative cells from all AA and MDS patients but not from all PNH patients. However, the common PIG-A mutations during the clinical course between CD59(-) granulocytes and/or CD48(-) monocytes from each AA or MDS patient, except for Case 5, were not found. PIG-A mutations were different between the granulocytes and monocytes from five AA and five MDS patients. Our results indicate that there were some characteristics of PIG-A mutations in AA and MDS patients compared with PNH patients and that several minor PNH clones in these patients occurred at random during the clinical course. This partly explains the transformation of AA or MDS to PNH at intervals.