Speciation of arsenic trioxide metabolites in peripheral blood and bone marrow from an acute promyelocytic leukemia patient

BACKGROUND: Speciation of arsenic trioxide (ATO) metabolites in clinical samples such as peripheral blood (PB) from acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patients has been conducted. However, speciation of arsenicals in bone marrow (BM) has not yet been performed. Profiles of arsenic speciation in plasma of BM were thus investigated and compared with those of PB plasma from a relapsed APL patient. The total arsenic concentrations in high molecular weight fraction (HMW-F) of BM and PB plasma were also determined. METHODS: Response assessment was evaluated by BM aspirate examination and fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. The analyses of total arsenic concentrations and speciation were preformed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/ICP-MS, respectively. RESULTS: Response assessment showed that the patient achieved complete remission. The total arsenic concentrations in BM plasma increased with time during the consecutive administration. The PB plasma concentrations of methylated arsenic metabolites substantially increased after the start of administration, while those of inorganic arsenic were still kept at a low level, followed by substantially increase from day-14 after administration. The arsenic speciation profiles of PB plasma were very similar to those of BM plasma. Furthermore, the total arsenic concentrations of HMW-F in BM plasma were much higher than those in PB plasma. CONCLUSIONS: The behaviors of arsenic speciation suggested for the first time that arsenic speciation analysis of PB plasma could be predicative for BM speciation, and showed relatively higher efficiency of drug metabolism in the patient. These results may further provide not only significance of clinical application of ATO, but also a new insight into host defense mechanisms in APL patients undergoing ATO treatment, since HMW proteins-bound arsenic complex could be thought to protect BM from the attack of free arsenic species.