Analysis of bone marrow neutrophils in ARKO mice. (A) FSC/SSC analysis of bone marrow cells shows reduction of a cell population with granulocyte characteristics in 8-wk-old ARKO mice (n = 4) compared with WT littermates (n = 4). (B) Gated with CD45+, FACS analyses show that bone marrow neutrophils are significantly decreased in AR-deficient mice (n = 4) compared with WT littermates (n = 4). (C) FACS analysis with antibodies against neutrophils in peripheral blood from 10-wk-old sham-operated WT, castrated (WT-Cas), castrated mice implanted with DHT-releasing pellet (WT-Cas+DHT), sham-operated ARKO (ARKO), and sham-operated ARKO mice implanted with DHT-releasing pellet (ARKO+DHT). For each group, 105 cells from each of four mice were pooled and analyzed. Data were analyzed using CellQuest software; neutrophil populations are shown as histograms. DHT supplementation restores neutrophil numbers in peripheral blood of castrated mice, but not in ARKO mice. (D) DHT supplementation restores bone marrow neutrophils (neutrophil-specific antibody, clone 7/4, labeled) in castrated mice, but not in ARKO mice. (E) DHT supplementation also restores neutrophils (Gr-1 labeled) in bone marrow of castrated mice, but not in those of Tfm mice. (F) Neutrophil differential counts are only moderately reduced in patients after androgen ablation therapy. Blood analysis data were collected from 33 advanced prostate cancer patients before and after surgical castration. Neutrophil differential counts are shown and presented as the mean ± SD. Animal experiments were independently performed at least three times, and representative results from one experiment are shown.
