Abstract
Success of allogeneic and autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is hampered by susceptibility to infection during the first two post-treatment years. Further, in treating malignant diseases, impaired anti-host reactivity for donor cells may contribute to a high rate of relapse. Both complications are a consequence of immune deficiency involving B and T lymphocytes. The present study evaluates several key parameters of the immunologic reconstitution mechanism in mice subjected to myeloablative total body irradiation following semi-allogeneic (parental) BMT. This resulted in a gradual reduction of splenic CD3, CD4 and CD8 cells until day 45 post-BMT. Concomitantly, there was an increase in monocytes and CD4+/CD8+ (double positive) cells, accompanied by a persistent elevation in the percentage of B lymphocytes. The total thymic and splenic T cell populations were reduced until day +30. The cellular reduction correlated with the poor proliferative response of the thymic and splenic cells. A decrease occurred in IL-2 mRNA expression in thymic cells during days 15-20 post-transplant, corresponding with the low level of IL-2 secretion in the spleen and thymus of the transplanted mice. In conclusion, following semi-allogeneic BMT, there was an overall immune down-regulation in the cells, gene and protein levels. Reduced immunological responsiveness following BMT reinforces the need for improving the immune dysfunction by immunotherapy post-BMT.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1330-1336 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy |
Volume | 55 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2006 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgments We wish to thank the Danny Cunniff Leukemia Research Laboratory; the Gabrielle Rich Leukemia Research Foundation; the Novotny Trust; the Fig Tree Foundation; Ronne & Donald Hess for their continuous support of our ongoing basic and clinical research. We would also like to thank Dr. Lola Weiss for her excellent advice and Shoshana Reich as an outstanding technician.
Keywords
- Immune function
- Interleukin 2
- Marrow transplantation
- Mice
- Spleen
- Thymus