In vitro regulation of immunoglobulin synthesis after marrow transplantation. I. T-cell and B-cell deficiencies in patients with and without chronic graft-versus-host disease.
Twenty-four patients with aplastic anemia or acute leukemia were treated by marrow grafts from HLA-identical donors after conditioning with high doses of cyclophosphamide and/or today body irradiation. They were studied between 4 and 63 mo (median 14.2) after transplantation. Seventeen patients had chronic graft-versus-host disease (C-GVHD) and 7 were healthy. They were studied for defects in their T- and B-cell function using and indirect hemolytic plaque assay for Ig production after 6 days of culture in the presence of pokeweek mitogen. T or B cells from the patients with or without C-GVHD were cocultured with T or B cells from their HLA-identical marrow donors or unrelated normal controls. Intrinsic B-cell defects, lack of helper T-cell activity, and suppressor T-cell activity were more frequently found in patients with C-GVHD than in healthy patients. Fifteen of the 17 patients with C-GVHD showed on or more defects in their T-and B-cell function compared to only 3 of the 7 patients without C-GVHD. None of the healthy controls, including the marrow donors, showed defects in their T- and B-cell functions. These in vitro findings may be helpful in assessing the process of immune reconstitution and the immunologic aberration found after human marrow transplantation.
D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006087:Graft vs Host Reaction; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology
D007136:Immunoglobulins