title: Repifermin (keratinocyte growth factor-2) reduces the severity of graft-versus-host disease while preserving a graft-versus-leukemia effect.
abstract: Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is the principal complication after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Reductions in systemic GVHD are frequently associated with a corresponding diminishment of the graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) response. In this study, we tested the effects of a novel recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor, repifermin (keratinocyte growth factor-2), on the induction of GVHD in a well-defined murine BMT model (B6 --> B6D2F1). Administration of repifermin (5 mg/kg/d) to allogeneic BMT recipients resulted in a significant decrease in both systemic GVHD and target organ histopathology. Repifermin treatment also reduced serum levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha and lipopolysaccharide compared with control mice. In contrast, repifermin did not affect T-cell proliferation, cytokine production, or cytotoxic responses to host antigens. When 2000 host-derived P815 (H-2(d)) leukemia cells were added to the bone marrow inoculum, repifermin preserved GVL effects and resulted in significantly delayed mortality compared with control-treated allogeneic BMT recipients. Collectively, these data suggest that repifermin administration may represent a novel strategy to separate the toxicity of GVHD from the beneficial GVL effects after allogeneic BMT.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D051526:Fibroblast Growth Factor 10; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D020544:Graft vs Leukemia Effect / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis; D007422:Intestines / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000097:blood; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013154:Spleen / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: C496463:FGF10 protein, human; C496464:Fgf10 protein, mouse; D051526:Fibroblast Growth Factor 10; D007376:Interleukin-2; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors; D007371:Interferon-gamma