title: Beneficial effects of bone marrow transplantation on the serological manifestations and kidney pathology of experimental systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: We have recently shown, using allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT), that susceptibility of mice to the induction of experimental systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is determined by bone marrow (BM)-derived cells. In the present study we investigated the ability of BMT to cure mice already afflicted with this disease. We found that transplantation of SLE-diseased mice, with T-cell-depleted BM cells either from an SLE-resistant or from an SLE-susceptible donor, caused a significant reduction in the levels of anti-16/6 Id, 16/6 Id+, anti-ssDNA, and anti-dsDNA autoantibodies, compared to untreated SLE-afflicted mice. Interestingly, the reduction caused by the BMT of SLE-susceptible donor cells in the levels of the two former antibodies was significantly milder than the reduction caused by BMT of SLE-resistant cells. In contrast, the reduction in the levels of anti-ssDNA and anti-dsDNA antibodies, following BMT of cells from SLE-susceptible donors, did not differ from that caused by transplantation of BM cells from SLE-resistant donors. Following the transplantation of SLE-resistant but not of SLE-susceptible BM cells, a significant reduction was observed in the frequency of mice suffering from SLE-related immune complex deposits in their kidneys. If performed at advanced stages of the disease, transplantation of SLE-resistant BM cells into experimental SLE-diseased mice still led to a reduction in the levels of SLE-related autoantibodies, although to a lesser extent, but failed in improving kidney pathology. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that bone marrow transplantation has a beneficial effect on mice afflicted with experimental SLE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Membrane Research and Biophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Levite
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zinger
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zisman
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Reisner
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mozes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D014916:Whole-Body Irradiation
chemical_list: D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D001323:Autoantibodies