title: Long-term persistence of host cells detected by X-chromosome gene-based assay in patients undergoing gender-mismatched hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
abstract: Using our recently developed human androgen receptor (HUMARA) gene-based chimerism assay, long-term chimerism was investigated in female patients who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) with cells from male donors. After restriction digestion of samples, we detected a small number of female-derived cells within a large population of male-derived cells, with a sensitivity from 0.1% to 0.05%. Chimerism was examined in four patients with myeloid malignancies: two patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and one patient each with AML M3 and AML M4. All patients underwent myeloablative conditioning regimens and exhibited good clinical results during a median follow-up period of 6.6 years (range, 3.4-7.5 years). Female-derived cells were detected throughout the entire follow-up period in all bone marrow samples, but they became undetectable in the peripheral blood samples of 3 patients. Moreover, the HUMARA band pattern suggests that these residual host cells were normal cells. This study confirms the usefulness of the HUMARA gene-based assay, which showed that patients undergoing HCT frequently show mixed chimerism (MC) for a long period, especially in bone marrow, although the possibility of contamination by host stromal cells cannot be excluded.
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Service, University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma, Japan. karasawa@showa.gunma-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masamitsu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karasawa
authors.forename: Arito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamane
authors.forename: Takeki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mitsui
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Irisawa
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakura
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsushima
authors.forename: Norifumi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nojima
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyawaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D041321:Chromosomes, Human, X; D005260:Female; D005821:Genetic Techniques / Q000592:standards*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000628:therapy; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D011944:Receptors, Androgen / Q000235:genetics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D018183:Transplantation Chimera / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C410798:AR protein, human; D011944:Receptors, Androgen