Imbalance of effector and regulatory CD4 T cells is associated with graft-versus-host disease after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation using a reduced intensity conditioning regimen and alemtuzumab

Autor: Katie Matthews, ZiYi Lim, Behdad Afzali, Laurence Pearce, Atiyeh Abdallah, Shahram Kordasti, Antonio Pagliuca, Giovanna Lombardi, J. Alejandro Madrigal, Ghulam J. Mufti, Linda D. Barber
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2009
Předmět:
Zdroj: Haematologica, Vol 94, Iss 7 (2009)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0390-6078
1592-8721
DOI: 10.3324/haematol.2008.003103
Popis: Background A variety of immune pathways can lead to graft-versus-host disease. A better understanding of the type of immune response causing graft-versus-host disease in defined clinical hematopoietic stem cell transplant settings is required to inform development of methods for monitoring patients and providing them tailored care.Design and Methods Twenty-five patients were recruited presenting with myeloid malignancies and treated with a reduced intensity conditioning transplant regimen with graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis comprising in vivo lymphocyte depletion with alemtuzumab and cyclosporin. A prospective study was performed of lymphocyte subset reconstitution in peripheral blood in relation to the incidence of graft-versus-host disease.Results Acute graft-versus-host disease was associated with significantly higher numbers of natural killer cells and donor-derived effector CD4 T cells (CD45RO+ CD27−) early (day 30) after transplantation (p=0.04 and p=0.02, respectively). This association was evident before the emergence of clinical pathology in six out of seven patients. Although numbers of regulatory CD4 T cells (CD25high Foxp3+) were similar at day 30 in all patients, a significant deficit in those who developed acute graft-versus-host disease was apparent relative to effector CD4 T cells (median of 41 effectors per regulatory cell compared to 12 to 1 for patients without graft-versus-host disease) (p=0.03). By day 180, a functional regulatory CD4 T-cell population had expanded significantly in patients who developed chronic graft-versus-host disease, reversing the imbalance (median of 3 effectors per regulatory cell compared to 9.6 to 1 for patients without graft-versus-host disease) (p=0.018) suggesting no overt absence of immune regulation in the late onset form of the disease.Conclusions Imbalance of effector and regulatory CD4 T cells is a signature of graft-versus-host disease in this transplantation protocol.
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