title: Immune recovery after conventional and non-myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
abstract: The immune recovery of 66 patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation with either conventional or non-myeloablative conditioning regimen was studied. Infections post-transplant were enumerated and quantitative immunoglobuilins (IgG, IgA, IgM) and lymphocyte sub-sets 3, 6 and 12 months post-transplant were measured. A significant difference was found in the immunologic recovery of non-myeloablative and conventional ASCT in the patient population. The T-helper cell reconstitution was significantly faster after NMA than conventional transplantation and the recovery of B cells was faster after conventional transplantation. Regarding immunoglobulin levels, a faster recovery of IgM levels after NMA-ASCT and a delayed recovery of IgA levels was observed in both groups. These were accompanied by a significant difference in the frequency and severity of infectious episodes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine I, Bone Marrow Transplantation, University of Vienna, Austria. axelschulenburg@yahoo.de
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schulenburg
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kalhs
authors.forename: Margit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitterbauer
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rabitsch
authors.forename: Hildegard T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Greinix
authors.forename: Gerda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leitner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000628:therapy; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning / Q000379:methods; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000276:immunology