Flow Cytometric Analysis of Peripheral Blood Neutrophil Myeloperoxidase Expression and Myelodysplastic Syndromes

"Flow cytometry analysis of neutrophil myeloperoxidase expression in peripheral blood samples will be performed within 24 h of MDS diagnostic evaluation and blinded to the reference standard. Peripheral blood samples will be collected in 5 ml (EDTA) anticoagulant plastic tubes and processed within 24 h maximum of collection. The samples will be stored at 4°C overnight.~Blood samples containing at least 105 neutrophils will be incubated with a panel of antibodies conjugated to fluorochromes, according to the manufacturers' recommendations.~At least 10,000 cell events will be acquired on a 3-laser, 8-color flow cytometer and analyzed using Becton Dickinson (BD) Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) Diva Software version 6. Each marker will be expressed as median, geometric and arithmetic mean, regular and robust coefficient of variation."