Direct assessment of thymic reactivation after autologous stem cell transplantation.
Methods to quantify Th cell reconstitution after immunosuppressive therapies such as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are becoming a key issue since persistent Th cell deficiencies may result in severe complications and adverse events. We employed here cytometric monitoring of CD31+ thymus-naive Th cells for the direct assessment of human thymic function in 10 patients undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation for severe autoimmune diseases. High frequencies of posttransplant recurring naive Th cells coexpressed CD31 and stable long-term reconstitution with elevated absolute counts of CD31+ thymus-naive Th cells that were enriched with T cell receptor excision circles was demonstrated. Cytometric monitoring of CD31+ thymus-naive Th cells enables to directly evaluate human thymic function ex vivo.
Thiel
Andreas
A
Clinical Immunology Group, Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum Berlin, Berlin, Germany. thiel@drfz.de
Alexander
Tobias
T
Schmidt
Christian A
CA
Przybylski
Gregorsz K
GK
Kimmig
Sonja
S
Kohler
Siegfried
S
Radtke
Hartmut
H
Gromnica-Ihle
Erika
E
Massenkeil
Gero
G
Radbruch
Andreas
A
Arnold
Renate
R
Hiepe
Falk
F
D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000601:surgery*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000276:immunology; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous
D017931:DNA Primers; D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1