[Relationship between cellular immune function during conditioning and graft rejection in patients with beta-thalassemia major].
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the relationship between cell-mediated immune function during conditioning and graft rejection in patients with beta-thalassemia major.


METHODS
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was performed in 25 children with beta-thalassemia major and 11 with acute leukemia group. The percentages of T lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells in peripheral blood of these patients were detected with dual color immunofluorescence on day -10 (before conditioning) and day -5 (after conditioning), and the relationship between the cellular immune function and graft rejection was analyzed.


RESULTS
All the patients with acute leukemia showed engraftment. The rate of graft rejection was 34.8% in the patients with beta-thalassemia major. Compared with the leukemic patients, the patients with beta-thalassemia showed significantly increased percentage of CD3(+)CD8(+) T lymphocytes before and after the conditioning (P<0.05). The percentage of CD3(-)CD56(+) NK cells increased significantly in patients with beta-thalassemia major after the conditioning (P<0.05), but decreased markedly after conditioning in the leukemic patients (P<0.05). In patients with beta-thalassemia major and graft rejection, the CD3(-)CD56(+) cell phenotype was predominant after conditioning but remained unchanged in those with engraftment.


CONCLUSIONS
CD3(-)CD56(+) NK cells are probably associated with graft rejection in patients with beta-thalassemia major, and may serve as an index for predicting graft rejection following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Hao
Wen-Ge
WG
Department of Pediatrics, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou 510120, China. haowg1016@163.com
Huang
Shao-Liang
SL
Sun
Xin
X
Liu
Sha
S
D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology*; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007223:Infant; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000276:immunology* / Q000601:surgery