Abstract We investigated the effects of IL-3, IL-6 and IL-4, alone and in combination with G-CSF and GM-CSF on hematopoietic reconstitution following murine allogenic bone marrow transplantation. The most effective combination for increasing the circulating absolute neutrophil count (ANC) above the control value at day 6 posttransplant was the combination of IL-3 and GM-CSF and showed a significant synergistic effect. When used alone, both IL-6 and G-CSF raised platelet count at day 6 after transplantation (312?10~(9)/L, P=0.02 and 309?10~(9)/L, P=0.01 respectively) compared to control mice(216?109/L). In combination, only IL-3 with G-CSF significantly increased the day 6 platelet count (328?10~(9)/L). We found that neutrophil recovery at day 7 after transplantation was significantly suppressed by IL-4 in a dose-dependent fashion and that the recovery of nentrophils accelerated by IL-3, and G-CSF was also significantly suppressed by IL-4.

Objective To observe engraftment kinetics, the incidence and severity of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and clinical outcome on 40 recipients undergoing allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (allo-PBSCT).Methods From June 1997 to May 1999, forty leukemia patients with a median age of 35 years underwent allo-PBSCT. PBSC were mobilized with G-CSF at a dose of 5 μg/kg s.c. every 12 hours for 5 days. A median of 7.7 (2.0 - 16.8) × 106 CD34+ cells/kg was infused into the recipients. Busulfancyclophosphamide (BU-CY) was used as the conditioning regimen. All patients received cyclosporine A and either methotrexate ( n = 34) or methylprednisolone ( n = 6) for GVHD prophylaxis.Results Engraftment of neutrophils and platelets was achieved at a median of 13 days (9- 28 days) and 12 days (7- 60 days) respectively. Patients receiving ≥4×106 CD34+ cells/kg or given G-CSF post transplant had significantly accelerated neutrophil and platelet engraftment. Acute GVHD occurred in 17 of 40 patients (42.5％), with grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ acute GVHD in 10 patients (25％). Chronic GVHD developed in 21 (9 extensive, 12 limited) out of 30 evaluable patients (21/30, 70％) with a median follow up of 380 days (180-900 days). Transplant related mortality was 17.5％ end the relapse rate was 10％. The probability of leukemia free survival at 3 years was 72.5％.Conclusion Allo-PBSCT can provide rapid hematopoietic reconstitution without an increased incidence of acute GVHD, but may be associated with a high risk of chronic GVHD.