OBJECTIVE: To establish an in vitro cell model simulating acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) bone marrow microenvironment injury with the advantage of mouse serum of aGVHD model and explore the effect of serum of aGVHD mouse on the adipogenic differentiation ability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). METHODS: The 6-8-week-old C57BL/6N female mice and BALB/c female mice were used as the donor and recipient mice of the aGVHD model, respectively. Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) mouse model (n=20) was established by being injected with bone marrow cells (1×10⁷ per mouse) from donor mice within 4-6 hours after receiving a lethal dose (8.0 Gy, 72.76 cGy/min) of γ ray general irradiation. A mouse model of aGVHD (n=20) was established by infusing a total of 0.4 ml of a mixture of donor mouse-derived bone marrow cells (1×10⁷ per mouse) and spleen lymphocytes (2×10⁶ per mouse). The blood was removed from the eyeballs and the mouse serum was aspirated on the 7^th day after modeling. Bone marrow-derived MSCs were isolated from 1-week-old C57BL/6N male mice and incubated with 2%, 5% and 10% BMT mouse serum and aGVHD mouse serum in the medium, respectively. The effect of serum in the two groups on the in vitro adipogenic differentiation ability of mouse MSCs was detected by Oil Red O staining. The expression levels of related proteins PPARγ and CEBPα were detected by Western blot. The expression differences of key adipogenic transcription factors including PPARγ, CEBPα, FABP4 and LPL were determined by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). RESULTS: An in vitro cell model simulating the damage of bone marrow microenvironment in mice with aGVHD was successfully established. Oil Red O staining showed that the number of orange-red fatty droplets was significantly reduced and the adipogenic differentiation ability of MSC was impaired at aGVHD serum concentration of 10% compared with BMT serum. Western blot experiments showed that adipogenesis-related proteins PPARγ and CEBPα expressed in MSCs were down-regulated. Further RT-qPCR assay showed that the production of PPARγ, CEBPα, FABP4 and LPL, the key transcription factors for adipogenic differentiation of MSC, were significantly reduced. CONCLUSION The adipogenic differentiation capacity of MSCs is inhibited by aGVHD mouse serum.
Animals ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/cytology* ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Adipogenesis ; Female ; Cell Differentiation ; Graft vs Host Disease/blood* ; Bone Marrow Cells/cytology* ; PPAR gamma/metabolism* ; Disease Models, Animal ; CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-alpha/metabolism*

Prolonged thrombocytopenia (PT) is a common complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), with an incidence of about 5%-37%, which is closely related to the poor prognosis of patients. Previous studies have shown that transplantation type, CD34⁺ cell number, pretreatment regimen, acute graft-versus-host disease, virus infection, pre-transplantation serum ferritin level and donor specific antibodies can affect platelet implantation after transplantation. Identifying the risk factors of PT is helpful to early identify high-risk patients and take targeted preventive measures according to different risk factors to reduce the incidence of PT, reduce the risk of bleeding and improve the prognosis of patients. This article reviews the latest research progress of risk factors and intervention measures related to PT after allo-HSCT, in order to provide reference for the prevention and treatment of PT after transplantation.
Humans ; Transplantation, Homologous/adverse effects* ; Thrombocytopenia/etiology* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/adverse effects* ; Blood Platelets/metabolism* ; Risk Factors ; Graft vs Host Disease/complications* ; Retrospective Studies

Humans ; Fetal Blood ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Anemia ; Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation/methods* ; Graft vs Host Disease

Objective: To investigate the risk factors and outcomes of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection post umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation (UCBT) in children with primary immunodeficiency diseases (PID). Methods: Clinical data of 143 PID children who received UCBT in the Children's Hospital of Fudan University from January 2015 to June 2020 were collected retrospectively. CMV-DNA in the plasma was surveilled once or twice a week within 100 days post-UCBT. According to the CMV-DNA test results, children were divided into the CMV-infected group and the CMV-uninfected group. The incidence and risk factors of CMV infection were analyzed. At 1-month post-UCBT, the absolute lymphocyte count, ratio of lymphocyte subsets and immunoglobulin levels were compared between those whose CMV infection developed 1-month later post-UCBT and those not. Mann-Whitney U test and chi-squared test were used for comparision between groups. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to analyze the impact of CMV infection on survival. Results: Among 143 patients, there were 113 males and 30 females, with a age of 14 (8, 27) months at UCBT. Chronic granulomatosis disease (n=49), very-early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (n=43) and severe combined immunodefiency (n=29) were the three main kinds of PID. The rate of CMV infection was 21.7% (31/143), and the time of infection occurring was 44 (31, 49) days post-UCBT. The incidence of recurrent CMV infection was 4.2% (6/143) and refractory CMV infection was 4.9% (7/143).There was no significant difference in the first time CMV-DNA copy and peak CMV-DNA copy during treatment between the recurrent CMV infection group and the non-recurrent CMV infection group (32.8 (18.3, 63.1)×10⁶ vs. 22.5 (13.2, 31.9)×10⁶ copies/L, Z=-0.95, P=0.340;35.2 (20.2, 54.6)×10⁶ vs. 28.4 (24.1, 53.5)×10⁶copies/L, Z=-0.10, P=0.920), so were those between the refractory CMV infection group and non-refractory CMV infection group (21.8 (13.1, 32.2)×10⁶ vs. 25.9 (14.2, 12.2)×10⁶copies/L, Z=-1.04, P=0.299; 47.7 (27.9, 77.6)×10⁶ vs. 27.7 (19.7,51.8)×10⁶copies/L, Z=-1.49, P =0.137). The CMV-infected group accepted more reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen than the CMV-uninfected group (45.2% (14/31) vs. 25.0% (28/112), χ²=4.76, P<0.05). The rate of CMV-seropositive recipients and Ⅱ-Ⅳ acute graft versus host diseases (aGVHD) are significantly higher in the CMV-infected group than the CMV-uninfected group (100% (31/31) vs. 78.6% (88/112), 64.5% (20/31) vs. 26.8% (30/112), χ²=7.98,15.20, both P<0.05). The follow-up time was 31.6 (13.2, 45.9) months, CMV infection had no effect on overall survival (OS) rate (χ²=0.02, P=0.843). There was significant difference in the survival rate among three groups of refractory CMV infection, non-refractory CMV infection and the CMV-uninfected (4/7 vs.95.8% (23/24) vs. 86.6% (97/112), χ²=5.91, P=0.037), while there was no significant difference in the survival rate among three groups of recurrent CMV infection, non-recurrent CMV infection and the CMV-uninfected (5/6 vs. 88.0% (22/25) vs. 86.6% (97/112), χ²=0.43, P=0.896). Children who developed CMV infection after 30 days post-UCBT had lower absolute count and rate of CD4⁺ T cells and immunoglobulin G (IgG) level than those in the CMV-uninfected group (124.1 (81.5, 167.6) ×10⁶ vs. 175.5 (108.3, 257.2) ×10⁶/L, 0.240 (0.164, 0.404) vs. 0.376 (0.222, 0.469), 9.3 (6.2, 14.7) vs. 13.6 (10.7, 16.4) g/L, Z=-2.48, -2.12,-2.47, all P<0.05), but have higher rate of CD8⁺T cells than those in CMV-uninfected group (0.418 (0.281, 0.624) vs. 0.249 (0.154, 0.434), Z=-2.56, P=0.010). Conclusions: RIC regimen, grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ aGVHD and CMV-seropositive recipients are the main risk factors associated with CMV infection in PID patients post-UCBT. Survival rate of children with refractory CMV infection after UCBT is reduced. Immune reconstitution in children after UCBT should be regularly monitored, and frequency of CMV-DNA monitoring should be increased for children with delayed immune reconstitution.
Child ; Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation/adverse effects* ; Cytomegalovirus ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/etiology* ; DNA ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease/etiology* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/adverse effects* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Infant ; Male ; Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of serum protein ROCK2 in patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). METHODS: The patients were divided into cGVHD group and control group (without cGVHD). The expression levels of serum protein ROCK2 were detected by ELISA in patients with or without cGVHD after allo-HSCT. RESULTS: The expression level of ROCK2 in serum of cGVHD patients was significantly higher than those in control group, moreover, the expression level of ROCK2 in severe cGVHD group was significant higher than that in moderate and mild cGVHD group (P<0.001). The expression level of ROCK2 was significantly decreased in the serum of cGVHD patients after treatment（P＜0.01）; the expression level of ROCK2 was significantly higher in the serum of cGVHD patients with lung as the target organ（P＜0.01）. The median survival time of patients with severe cGVHD were significantly shorter than that of patients with mild and moderate cGVHD（P＜0.05）. CONCLUSION ROCK2 shows certain reference value in the evaluation of severity and prognosis of cGVHD, and may be a new target for the treatment of cGVHD.
Blood Proteins ; Chronic Disease ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Transplantation, Homologous ; rho-Associated Kinases

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation（allo-HSCT） on the treatment of adult acute leukemia patients, moreover, to establish and evaluate a Logistic model to predict the risk of relapse in adult acute leukemia patients after allo-HSCT. METHODS: The clinical data of 145 adult acute leukemia patients treated by peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from January 2010 to December 2019 was enrolled and analyzed retrospectively. Complications and survival of patients were observed. The relationship between patients' age, diagnosis, leukocyte count at onset, risk stratification, time of diagnosis to transplantation, HCT-CI, minimal residual disease pre-transplantation, donor-recipient sex relationship, HLA match degree, prophylaxis of graft versus host disease(GVHD), donor age, number of transfused mononuclear cells, CD34 positive cells, engraftment time, acute and chronic GVHD, CMV, EBV infection, and hemorrhagic cystitis and recurrence after transplantation were analyzed by logistic regression. Relapse prediction model was established and evaluated according to the results. RESULTS: Among 145 acute leukemia patients, 81 with acute myeloid leukemia, 64 with acute lymphocytic leukemia, 18 with EBV infection, 2 with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder(PTLD), 85 with CMV, 26 with hemorrhagic cystitis, 65 patients developed acute GVHD, 51 patients developed chronic GVHD and 45 patients relapsed. The overall survival （OS） rates in one and three years were 86.4% and 61.8%, and the progress-free survival （PFS） rates in one and three years were 67.5% and 62.4%, respectively. There were significant differences in OS and PFS between relapsed and non-relapsed patients, as well as AML and ALL patients. Univariate analysis revealed that patient's age, risk stratification, time to transplantation, HCT-CI index, ATG based GVHD prophylaxis, minimal residual disease pre-transplantation, GVHD prophylaxis, and acute and chronic GVHD were associated with the relapse of disease, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that pre-transplantation minimal residual disease showed positively correlation with relapse of the disease, while chronic GVHD showed negatively correlation. CONCLUSION The relapse rate of adult acute leukemia patients treated with allo-HSCT in our hospital is 31.0%, and OS of AML patients is better than ALL patients'. OS of relapsed patients is significantly lower than non-relapsed patients'. Pre-transplantation minimal residual disease is a risk factor of relapse. The risk of relapse is reduced in patients with chronic GVHD.
Adult ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/therapy* ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplantation Conditioning

Post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PT-Cy) alone or in combination with other immunosuppressive drugs has emerged as a promising strategy in the setting of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Improved survival rate was reported in lymphoid malignancies following PT-Cy strategy compared with myeloid disease in non-myeloablative bone marrow transplant setting. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of PT-Cy combined with cyclosporine as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis after myeloablative conditioning and T cell-replete peripheral stem cell transplantation in lymphoid malignancies. This single-arm phase II clinical trial (NCT01435447) involving 31 adult patients was conducted from January 2013 to June 2018. The donor-type neutrophil engraftment rate was 100%, and the overall incidence of grade II to IV and grade III to IV acute GVHD was 39% and 24%, respectively. The cumulative incidence rates of chronic GVHD (35%), including moderate to severe forms (10%), were reduced compared with those of the historical group (P = 0.03 and P = 0.04, respectively). With a median follow-up of 18 months, the estimated 2-year overall and event-free survival was 64.8% (95% confidence interval: 47.8%-86.7%) and 58.4% (95% CI: 41.9%-81.7%), respectively. The 2-year cumulative incidence rate of relapse was 19.5% (95% CI: 9.0%-35.8%), whereas the non-relapse mortality rate was 21.8% (95% CI: 11.3%-38.1%). These results demonstrated the feasibility of PT-Cy as GVHD prophylaxis in this clinical setting. This strategy could significantly reduce the incidence of chronic GVHD and its moderate to severe forms but not of acute GVHD and results in similar survival outcomes compared with the historical group. A prospective study with additional patients is warranted to confirm the role of PT-Cy in lymphoid malignancy.
Adult ; Busulfan/therapeutic use* ; Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use* ; Graft vs Host Disease/prevention & control* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Neoplasms ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; Prospective Studies ; Transplantation Conditioning ; Vidarabine/analogs & derivatives*

OBJECTIVE: To explore the influencing factors and countermeasures of infection in leukemia patients after allogeneic peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. METHODS: A total of 126 patients with leukemia admitted in our hospital from August 2016 to March 2018 were selected. The number of infected patients after transplantation was recorded, and the causes of infection were analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 126 patients, 43 were positive for infection, and the infection rate was 34.13%. A total of 89 pathogens were detected, of which bacteria accounted for 64.05%; virus accounted for 22.47%, and fungi accounted for 13.48%. The patient's age, donor type, pre-transplant infection, prophylactic use of antibiotics and aGVHD all were factors influencing the patient's infection (P＜0.05). The follow-up results showed that the incidence of infection in the intervention group significantly decreased after intervention with prevention program (P＜0.05). After reasonable nursing intervention, the incidence of infection in the intervention group after follow-up for 12 months was lower than that in the control group (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION Pre-transplant infection and prophylactic use of antibiotics are factors influencing the infection after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The incidence of infection can be reduced by reasonable infection prevention.
Graft vs Host Disease ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Infections ; Leukemia ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical efficacy and safety of unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) in the treatment of Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML). METHODS: The clinical data of 5 children with JMML who were treated with unrelated UCBT from October 2011 to July 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The age of onset for the five children (male) ranged from 0.4 to 5.0 years old, with a median age of 1.5 years old. All the patients received myeloablative conditioning regimen without ATG to whom cyclosporine A (CsA) with short-term mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) was given for GVHD prophylaxis. RESULTS: Four children acquired engraftment. One patient received secondary haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation because of the failure in the first unrelated UCBT. Grade Ⅲ to Ⅳ aGVHD occurred in 2 cases and was controlled, and none of the patients developed cGVHD. Three cases achieved long-time disease free survival，and no patient relapsed. CONCLUSION UCBT is an effective treatment for children with JMML.
Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Infant ; Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Juvenile ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplantation Conditioning

Abstract　　Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an alternative source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for patients who were lack of HLA match related or unrelated donors. Compared with bone marrow and mobilized peripheral blood, UCB has the advantages of easy availability, safety for donors, and low requirement for HLA match between donors and recipients. However, the cell amount in UCB is relatively less, which was associated with increased graft failure, delayed hematologic recovery, immune reconstitution, and higher transplant related mortality after UCB transplantation (UCBT). Double-unit UCB is a straightforward method to augment cell amount in UCB. Compared with single-unit UCBT, double-unit CBT associated with less risk of primary disease relapse and increased incidence rate of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), but the hematologic recovery and overall survival of recipients were no significantly difference between single and double-unit UCBT. Novel strategies for UCB expansion significantly increased the cell amount in UCB, single-unit expanded UCBT not only increased the sources of UCB, but also decreased the high cost of double-unit UCB. ATG can decrease the risk of graft failure and GVHD rate, but the role of ATG in UCBT is still controversial. Herein, the recent clinical advances on UCBT in the treatment of hematologic diseases are systematically reviewed.
Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Hematologic Diseases ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Unrelated Donors