Fig. 1

The peripheral blood levels of total leukocytes, total monocytes and monocyte subsets; a comparison between healthy controls and multiple myeloma patients examined after the initial induction chemotherapy and stem cell harvesting with cyclophosphamide plus G-CSF, i.e. immediately before conditioning high-dose melphalan therapy (pre-transplant day − 2). (a, UPPER FIGURES) We used flow cytometry to estimate the concentrations of total circulating leukocytes, total CD14⁺ monocytes and classical, intermediate and non-classical monocyte subset. The results for 17 patients (Table 1, patients 2–18) were compared with 17 healthy controls (CTR) individuals. Three of the 17 patients received their second auto-transplantation. (b, LOWER FIGURES) The percentage of circulating CD14⁺ monocytes among total leukocytes and the percentages of classical, intermediate and non-classical monocytes among total CD14⁺monocytes were estimated. The results for 18 patients (Table 1, patients 1–18) were compared with the 17 healthy individuals. Four patients received their second auto-transplantation. In all the figures, black symbols represent the levels for patients receiving their first auto-transplantation whereas open symbols represent levels for patients receiving their second transplantation. The Wilcoxon’s test for paired samples was used for statistical analyses and the p-values for statistically significant differences are indicated in the figure