Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) continues to be a major complication in long-term survivors after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and is the principal cause of morbidity and non-relapse mortality. With the new approaches in the immune mechanisms of cGVHD, the diagnosis, prophylaxis and treatment of cGVHD are involved. This review summarises the current progress of research on cGVHD.
Chronic Disease ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis ; Risk Factors

Adult ; Graft vs Host Disease ; etiology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; methods ; Hemoglobinuria, Paroxysmal ; therapy ; Humans ; Male

To explore feasibility and efficacy of unrelated HLA matched donor marrow transplantation in treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome, one case (male, 31 years old) of myelodysplastic syndrome-refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia (MDS-RCMD) has been received unrelated HLA-matched donor transplantation. Busulfan, cyclophosphamide, Ara-C, MeCCNU and antithymocyte globulin (ATG) were used for preparative regimen. Mycophenolate mofetile, cyclosporin A and short-term methotrexate were used for graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis. The results showed that neutrophil of > 0.5 x 10(9)/L, platelet of 58 x 10(9)/L and hemoglobin of 114 g/L were observed at 10, 20 days and 3 months respectively post transplantation. Disease-free survival without GVHD was 9 months. In conclusion, unrelated HLA matched donor marrow transplantation is an effective approach for treatment of patients with MDS.
Adult ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Follow-Up Studies ; Graft vs Host Disease ; etiology ; Hematopoiesis ; Histocompatibility Testing ; Humans ; Male ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; therapy

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is the most common complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and also an important factor affecting the survival and quality of life in patients after transplantation. Currently, immunosuppressive therapy is commonly used for GVHD, but the curative effect is not ideal. How to effectively prevent and treat GVHD is one of the difficulties to be solved urgently in the field of transplantation. In this paper, we summarize the latest progress in pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of GVHD with Chinese medicine (CM). We hope it will provide ideas and methods for exploring the mechanism and establishing a new comprehensive therapy for GVHD with CM.
Allografts ; Graft vs Host Disease ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Quality of Life

To overcome poor graft function after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT), the use of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) instead of bone marrow is gaining more popularity because of its advantages. There may, however, be an increased risk of graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) because of the large number of lymphocytes present in a leukapheresis product. An 18-year-old man with severe aplastic anemia underwent an allogeneic BMT using his HLA-identical sister. After initial excellent graft take for 8 months, his blood counts gradually decreased to 2.8 x 10(9)/L of white cells and 28 x 10(9)/L of platelets with marrow cellularity of < 10%. After allogeneic granulocyte-colony stimulating factor mobilized PBSC rescue, the patient's blood counts recovered satisfactorily. Around 1 year after the boost, he developed chronic GVHD that responded to prednisolone and cyclosporin A. He is now well on low-dose steroids at day +1055 after PBSC rescue. The present case is the first experience of a long-term follow-up who underwent allogeneic PBSC rescue in Korea.
Adolescence ; Anemia, Aplastic/therapy ; Anemia, Aplastic/blood ; Bone Marrow Transplantation/adverse effects* ; Chronic Disease ; Cyclosporine/therapeutic use ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease/pathology ; Graft vs Host Disease/etiology* ; Graft vs Host Disease/drug therapy ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/adverse effects* ; Human ; Male ; Prednisolone/therapeutic use

To investigate the relationship between interleukin-18 (IL-18) and human acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD), 26 patients undergoing allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (allo-PBSCT) were included in this study. IL-18 secreted by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) before transplantation and during aGVHD. The results showed that grade I GVHD and grades III-IV GVHD developed in 10 and 5 cases, respectively. The levels in the supernatants of MNCs from patients with aGVHD were significantly higher than those in the cases without aGVHD. The levels of IL-18 were correlated with the severity of aGVHD. It is concluded that IL-18 plays an important role in the development of aGVHD.
Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Graft vs Host Disease ; etiology ; Hematopoiesis ; Humans ; Infection ; etiology ; Interleukin-18 ; physiology ; Leukemia ; therapy ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects

In order to investigate the clinical efficacy of non-myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-NST) and related technology in patients with hematologic malignancies, twenty-six cases of hematological malignancies (10 AL, 14 CML, 2 MM patients) received NST following conditioning regimens with fludara + cyclophosphamide + ATG (14 cases) and busulfan or melphalan + cyclophosphamide + ATG (12 cases), G-CSF (600 micro g/d) or G-CSF (300 micro g/d) + GM-CSF (300 micro g/d) were used for mobilizing peripheral blood stem cell. A combination of cyclosporine A (CsA) and methotrexate (MTX) was administered for GVHD prophylaxis. Patients will be eligible for donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) or donor stem cell infusion (DSI) given in graded increments according to the chimeric formation and clinical reaction. Generally the dose of the first infusion was 1 x 10(7)/kg at 4th week post-transplantation. The engraftment analysis included the detection of microsatellite short tandem repeats (STRs), Bcr/Abl fusion gene, Philadelphia chromosome, HLA-locus analysis, sex chromosome and ABO blood type or blood subtype. The results showed that 22 patients (84.62%) were engrafted, among which 18 patients were full donor chimerism (FDC) up to now. Acute GVHD occurred in 3/26 cases (11.54%). Chronic GVHD was diagnosed in 6 of 26 (23.07%) evaluable patients. The incidence of infection and hemorrhage was low and slight. It is concluded that allo-NST is a safe and effective therapeutic method for hematologic malignancies, but the related technology such as selection of indication, conditioning regimen and transplantation immunotherapy should be studied further.
Adult ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; etiology ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; etiology ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; therapy ; Hematopoiesis ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Transplantation, Homologous

Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Graft vs Host Disease ; etiology ; Histocompatibility Testing ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Osteopetrosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Transplantation, Homologous

Nonmyeloablative stem cell transplantation (NST) is increasingly used with beneficial effects because it can be applied to older patients with hematological malignancies and those with various complications who are not suitable for conventional myeloablative stem cell transplantation (CST). Various conditioning regimens differ in their myeloablative and immunosuppressive intensity. Regardless of the type of conditioning regimen, graft-versus- host disease (GVHD) in NST occurs almost equally in CST, although a slightly delayed development of acute GVHD is observed in NST. Although graft-versus-hematological malignancy effects (i.e., graft-versus-leukemia effect, graft-versus-lymphoma effect, and graft-versus-myeloma effect) also occur in NST, completely eradicating residual malignant cells through allogeneic immune responses is insufficient in cases with rapidly growing disease or uncontrolled progressive disease. Donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) is sometimes combined to support engraftment and to augment the graft-versus-hematological malignancy effect, such as the graft-versus-leukemia effect. DLI is especially effective for controlling relapse in the chronic phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia, but not so effective against other diseases. Indeed, NST is a beneficial procedure for expanding the opportunity of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to many patients with hematological malignancies. However, a more sophisticated improvement in separating graft-versus-hematological malignancy effects from GVHD is required in the future.
Antigen-Presenting Cells/physiology ; Graft vs Host Disease/etiology ; *Graft vs Leukemia Effect ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/*adverse effects ; Humans ; Leukemia/therapy ; Lymphocyte Transfusion ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin/therapy ; Multiple Myeloma/therapy ; *Transplantation Conditioning

Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS-I) is an inborn error of metabolism with progressive multisystem involvement. Hurler syndrome is the most severe form of MPS-I that causes progressive deterioration of the central nervous system with ensuing death. This study reported the therapeutic effect of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) on Hurler syndrome in one case. The patient was a 25-month-old boy. He underwent allo-HSCT. The donor was his elder sister whose HLA-B locus was not matching. The reduced-intensity of BuCy conditioning regimen in allo-HSCT for this patient was as follows: busulfan 3.7 mg/kg daily at 9 to 6 days before transplantation, cyclophosphamide 42.8 mg/kg daily at 5 to 2 days before transplantation, and rabbit antithymocyte globulin 3.5 mg/kg daily at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days before transplantation. Human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mobilized peripheral blood stem cells (CD34+ cells 12.8 x10(6)/kg) were infused and cyclosporine (CSA), short-course methotrexate, daclizumab and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) were administered to prevent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Complete donor-type engraftment was confirmed by Short Tandem Repeat-Polymerase Chain Reaction (STR-PCR) on day 14 after transplantation. Neutrophil and platelet engraftment occurred on days 11 and 19 after transplantation respectively. Only grade I regimen-related toxicity of live and gastrointestinal tract occurred. GVHD and graft failure were not observed. After transplantation, the clinical symptoms and the neurocognitive function were greatly improved in this patient. It was concluded that allo-HSCT was effective for the treatment of MPS-I. The reduced-intensity conditioning regimen was helpful to decrease the regimen-related toxicity. Sufficient immunosuppressive therapy and adequate hematopoietic stem cells infusion may be beneficial to the donor cell engraftment and reducing the incidence of graft failure and GVHD.
Child, Preschool ; Follow-Up Studies ; Graft vs Host Disease ; etiology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Male ; Mucopolysaccharidosis I ; therapy ; Transplantation, Homologous