In vitro Effect of Pomalidomide on Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells from Multiple Myeloma Patients

Background: Many features of anticancer drugs, including cytotoxicity and/or cytokine induction, are studied using cell lines orhuman blood leukocytes. However, in a disease such as multiple myeloma, most cancerous cells are resided within bone marrowmononuclear cells. In the present study, we investigated the effect of pomalidomide on apoptosis and IL-2 production of bonemarrow mononuclear cells in patients with multiple myeloma and controls. Objectives: The Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells from 10 multiple myeloma patients and 10 controls were cultured usingpomalidomide for 48-hour. Apoptosis induction rate, viability, cytotoxicity, and IL-2 production were evaluated. Results: The results showed that apoptosis and cytotoxicity significantly increased in bone marrow mononuclear cells of multiplemyeloma patients cultured in the presence of pomalidomide (Pincrease in the vital activity of bone marrow mononuclear cells. Moreover, the concentration of Interleukin-2 (IL-2) in the presenceof pomalidomide increased significantly only in the multiple myeloma group. Conclusion: The results of the current study confirmed the toxic effect of pomalidomide on bone marrow mononuclear cells ofpatients, with no toxic effect on controls. On the other hand, pomalidomide has the potential to increase IL2 production withinbone marrow mononuclear cells and consequently make changes in the immune response, which requires further studies for moreclarifications.