Factors influencing T-lymphopoiesis after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
In adult recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplants (HCT) studied at 1 year after grafting, there was a significant correlation between the counts of T cell receptor excision circle (TREC)-containing CD4 T cells (presumed recent thymic emigrants) and the counts of total T cells (r=0.65, P<0.001). Thus, the reconstitution of CD4 T cell pool depends on T cell generation from hematopoietic stem cells (T-lymphopoiesis). We evaluated factors that could affect T-lymphopoiesis. Low TREC-containing CD4 T cell counts were associated with older patient age (r=-0.41, P=0.01) but not with donor age, graft type (marrow vs. blood stem cells), CD34 cell dose, conditioning (with vs. without irradiation), acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD), or chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) in multivariate analysis. We conclude that patient age is the primary determinant of CD4 T-lymphopoiesis after allogeneic HCT.
Storek
Jan
J
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA. jstorek@fhcrc.org.
Joseph
Ansamma
A
Dawson
Monja A
MA
Douek
Daniel C
DC
Storer
Barry
B
Maloney
David G
DG
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000209:etiology; D006410:Hematopoiesis; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous