Differences between lymphocyte subsets, after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, in patients who received tacrolimus and patients who received cyclosporin A.
The subsets of peripheral blood lymphocytes after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation were compared in 20 patients who received tacrolimus and 34 patients who received cyclosporin A (CsA) prophylactically. The phenotypes of CD3, CD4, CD8, and D8/CD57 were analyzed by flow cytometry. The percentage of CD3+ cells in the tacrolimus group (58.8% +/- 21.6%) was significantly lower than in the CsA group (77.2% +/- 12.8%) (P = .0239). The percentage of CD8+CD57+ cells in the patients receiving tacrolimus and developing acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (grade I, 20.1% +/- 10.6%; grade II-IV, 13.2% +/- 6.3%) was significantly higher than in the patients receiving CsA and developing acute GVHD (grade I, 10.7% +/- 5.2%; grade II-IV, 7.7% +/- 4.0%) (grade I, P = .0036; grade II-IV, P = .0255). The absolute number of CD8+CD57+ cells in the patients with grade II-IV acute GVHD was also significantly higher in the tacrolimus group compared with the CsA group. There was no difference in the incidence of acute GVHD in the 2 groups. Recovery from acute GVHD in the tacrolimus group (16.6 +/- 13.6 days) was more rapid than in the CsA group (30.8 +/- 24.8 days) (P = .0124). These results suggest that, compared with CsA, tacrolimus administered prophylactically induces more CD8+CD57+ lymphocytes when acute GVHD occurs and accelerates the recovery from acute GVHD more rapidly.
Fukuda
H
H
Department of Hematology, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Japan.
Teshima
H
H
Karasuno
T
T
Hiraoka
A
A
Nakamura
H
H
Masaoka
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018655:Lymphocyte Count / Q000187:drug effects; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016559:Tacrolimus / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine; D016559:Tacrolimus