title: Differences between lymphocyte subsets, after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, in patients who received tacrolimus and patients who received cyclosporin A.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Teshima
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karasuno
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hiraoka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masaoka
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine; D016559:Tacrolimus