BACKGROUND: The primary limitation to kidney transplantation is organ shortage. Recent progress in gene editing and immunosuppressive regimens has made xenotransplantation with porcine organs a possibility. However, evidence in pig-to-human xenotransplantation remains scarce, and antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is a major obstacle to clinical applications of xenotransplantation. METHODS: We conducted a kidney xenotransplantation in a brain-dead human recipient using a porcine kidney with five gene edits (5GE) on March 25, 2024 at Xijing Hospital, China. Clinical-grade immunosuppressive regimens were employed, and the observation period lasted 22 days. We collected and analyzed the xenograft function, ultrasound findings, sequential protocol biopsies, and immune surveillance of the recipient during the observation. RESULTS: The combination of 5GE in the porcine kidney and clinical-grade immunosuppressive regimens prevented hyperacute rejection. The xenograft kidney underwent delayed graft function in the first week, but urine output increased later and the single xenograft kidney maintained electrolyte and pH homeostasis from postoperative day (POD) 12 to 19. We observed AMR at 24 h post-transplantation, due to the presence of pre-existing anti-porcine antibodies and cytotoxicity before transplantation; this AMR persisted throughout the observation period. Plasma exchange and intravenous immunoglobulin treatment mitigated the AMR. We observed activation of latent porcine cytomegalovirus toward the end of the study, which might have contributed to coagulation disorder in the recipient. CONCLUSIONS 5GE and clinical-grade immunosuppressive regimens were sufficient to prevent hyperacute rejection during pig-to-human kidney xenotransplantation. Pre-existing anti-porcine antibodies predisposed the xenograft to AMR. Plasma exchange and intravenous immunoglobulin were safe and effective in the treatment of AMR after kidney xenotransplantation.
Transplantation, Heterologous/methods* ; Kidney Transplantation/methods* ; Heterografts/pathology* ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous/administration & dosage* ; Graft Survival/immunology* ; Humans ; Animals ; Sus scrofa ; Graft Rejection/prevention & control* ; Kidney/pathology* ; Gene Editing ; Species Specificity ; Immunosuppression Therapy/methods* ; Plasma Exchange ; Brain Death ; Biopsy ; Male ; Aged

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of thiotepa (TT)-containing conditioning regimens for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in children with inborn errors of immunity (IEI). METHODS: Clinical data of 22 children with IEI who underwent HSCT were retrospectively reviewed. Survival after HSCT was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Nine patients received a traditional conditioning regimen (fludarabine + busulfan + cyclophosphamide/etoposide) and underwent peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). Thirteen patients received a TT-containing modified conditioning regimen (TT + fludarabine + busulfan + cyclophosphamide), including seven PBSCT and six umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) cases. Successful engraftment with complete donor chimerism was achieved in all patients. Acute graft-versus-host disease occurred in 12 patients (one with grade III and the remaining with grade I-II). Chronic graft-versus-host disease occurred in one patient. The incidence of EB viremia in UCBT patients was lower than that in PBSCT patients (P<0.05). Over a median follow-up of 36.0 months, one death occurred. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rate was 100% for the modified regimen and 88.9% ± 10.5% for the traditional regimen (P=0.229). When comparing transplantation types, the 3-year OS rates were 100% for UCBT and 93.8% ± 6.1% for PBSCT (P>0.05), and the 3-year event-free survival rates were 100% and 87.1% ± 8.6%, respectively (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS TT-containing conditioning for allogeneic HSCT in children with IEI is safe and effective. Both UCBT and PBSCT may achieve high success rates.
Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplantation Conditioning/methods* ; Thiotepa/therapeutic use* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/adverse effects* ; Male ; Female ; Child, Preschool ; Infant ; Child ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Adolescent

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of a new conditioning regimen with chidamide and BEAM for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) in patients with lymphoma. METHODS: Medical records and further follow-up data from 85 patients with lymphoma from May 2015 to September 2020 in our hospital were retrospectively collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Among 85 patients, 52 cases accepted BEAM regimen and 33 cases accepted CBEAM followed by AHSCT. In CBEAM group, 18 patients (54.5%) received AHSCT as salvage therapy, while only 26.9% (14 cases) for salvage in BEAM group ( P < 0.01). CBEAM conditioning resulted in shorter neutrophil engraftment of 2 days, while no significant difference was found in platelet engraftment. Although the incidence of liver impairment was higher in CBEAM group (12.1%), the grade of impairment was only Ⅰ to Ⅱ. The two conditioning regimens both achieved good complete remission rate of over 90%, and no transplant-related death occurred. The median follow-up time in the CBEAM group was 18(12, 22) months, and 39(20, 59) months in the BEAM group. There were no significantly differences in 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rate between the two groups (P >0.05). In patients with refractory or relapsed non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the 2-year PFS rate after transplantation in BEAM group and CBEAM group was 74.1% and 92.9%, respectively (P >0.05), indicating that chidamide may have certain advantages in prolonging PFS. CONCLUSION CBEAM conditioning regimen has a good efficacy and safety in lymphoma patients before AHSCT, especially in refractory and relapsed non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients, suggesting that it could serve as an alternative conditioning regimen prior to AHSCT for lymphoma.
Humans ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Transplantation Conditioning/methods* ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Retrospective Studies ; Aminopyridines/therapeutic use* ; Lymphoma/therapy* ; Benzamides/therapeutic use* ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Male ; Female ; Cytarabine/therapeutic use* ; Melphalan/therapeutic use* ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Podophyllotoxin/therapeutic use* ; Carmustine ; Etoposide

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of the conditioning regimen BeEAM (bendamustine+et-oposide+cytarabine+melphalan) in autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) for patients with malignant lymphoma. METHODS: The clinical data of 20 patients with malignant lymphoma who underwent ASCT after conditioning with BeEAM regimen from January 2021 to December 2022 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical University were collected, and the clinical characteristics before transplantation, conditioning-related toxicity, hematopoietic reconstitution after transplantation, and therapeutic effects were analyzed. 67 patients with malignant lymphoma who did not undergo ASCT during the same period were selected as the control group, and the 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate and overall-survival (OS) rate between the ASCT group and the non-ASCT group were compared. RESULTS: 15 cases achieved complete remission (CR) and 5 cases achieved partial remission (PR) before transplantation in ASCT group. During the conditioning process of patients in the ASCT group, 14 cases experienced gastrointestinal adverse reactions, 13 cases experienced neutropenic fever, 10 cases experienced oral mucositis, 2 cases experienced abnormal liver function, and only 1 case experienced acute renal injury. All the adverse reactions resolved after symptomatic treatment. After transplantation, 19 cases achieved hematopoietic reconstitution, and only one case had poor platelet engraftment. The median time of peripheral white blood cell (WBC) engraftment was 9 (9-16) days, and the median time of platelet engraftment was 12 (10-23) days. By the end of follow-up, there were no transplant-related deaths. The 1-year PFS rates in the ASCT group and the non-ASCT group were 94.4% and 68.5%, respectively; The 1-year OS rates were 94.4% and 83.5%, respectively. The median PFS and OS time for both groups were not reached. The PFS in the ASCT group was significantly better than that in the non-ASCT group (P < 0.05), and there was no significant difference in OS between the two groups ( P >0.05). CONCLUSION BeEAM regimen is safe and effective as a conditioning treatment for ASCT in patients with malignant lymphoma, with tolerable adverse reactions, controllable non-hematological toxicity, smooth hematopoietic reconstitution, and considerable short-term efficacy. However, further follow-up is required to evaluate its long-term efficacy.
Humans ; Transplantation Conditioning/methods* ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Lymphoma/therapy* ; Cytarabine/therapeutic use* ; Female ; Male ; Melphalan/therapeutic use* ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Bendamustine Hydrochloride/therapeutic use*

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the efficacy and safety of decitabine-based myeloablative preconditioning regimen for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). METHODS: The clinical characteristics and efficacy of 115 AML patients who underwent allo-HSCT at the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from August 2018 to August 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 37 patients treated with decitabine conditioning regimen (decitabine group) and 78 patients without decitabine conditioning regimen (non-decitabine group). The cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR), overall survival (OS), leukemia-free survival (LFS), non-relapse mortality (NRM) and graft versus host disease (GVHD) were analyzed. RESULTS: For the patients in first complete remission (CR1) state before allo-HSCT, the 1-year relapse rates of decitabine group(22 cases) and non-decitabine group(69 cases) were 9.1% and 29.6%, respectively, the difference was statistically significant(P =0.042). The 1-year cumulative incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in decitabine group and non-decitabine group was 62.2% and 70.5%, respectively, and the 1-year cumulative incidence of chronic inhibitor-versus-host disease (cGVHD) was 18.9% and 14.1%, respectively, there were no significant differences in the incidence of aGVHD and cGVHD between the two groups (P >0.05). Of the 115 patients, there were no significantly differences in the 1-year CIR(21.7% vs 28.8%, P =0.866), NRM(10.9% vs 3.9%, P =0.203), OS(75.2% vs 83.8%, P =0.131) and LFS(74.6% vs 69.1%, P =0.912) between the decitabine group(37 cases) and the non-decitabine group(78 cases). CONCLUSION Decitabine-based conditioning regimen could reduce the relapse rate of AML CR1 patients with good safety.
Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/therapy* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/methods* ; Decitabine/therapeutic use* ; Transplantation Conditioning/methods* ; Retrospective Studies ; Graft vs Host Disease ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Adolescent ; Young Adult

The development of medical technology and the extension of lifespan have promoted population aging, and malignant blood diseases are gradually becoming common in the elderly. Among them, the most common is acute myeloid leukemia (AML), with a median age at diagnosis of 68 years old. Due to poor clinical conditions, severe comorbidities, poor tolerance to intensive therapy, as well as unfavorable or complex cytogenetics and multidrug resistance, elderly AML patients have a poorer prognosis and increased risks of treatment-related toxicity and mortality. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is one of the optimal treatment strategies for elderly AML patients. With improvements in reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC), the expansion of donor selection, the optimization of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention regimen, and the progress of supportive care, more elderly AML patients have been choosing allo-HSCT. This article reviews the recent applications of allo-HSCT in elderly AML patients.
Humans ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/therapy* ; Aged ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Transplantation Conditioning

OBJECTIVE: To explore and evaluate the efficacy and safety of a modified thiotepa-based conditioning regimen combined with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) for the treatment of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). METHODS: In a retrospective, single center, single arm study, we collected data of 28 patients with PCNSL who underwent high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (HDC-ASCT) at our center from March 2021 to December 2024. The clinical characteristics of the patients, the conditioning regimen details, treatment-related toxicities and adverse reactions, post-transplant disease remission status, and survival outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 28 patients were included. Among them, 19 patients received ASCT as first-line consolidation therapy in complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) status, and 9 patients with relapsed/refractory disease underwent salvage ASCT. The median time to neutrophil engraftment was 9 days (range: 5-11 days), and the median time to platelet engraftment was 10 days (range: 6-13 days). All patients achieved CR at the initial efficacy evaluation post-ASCT. The main complications during the transplantation period were febrile neutropenia (26 cases) and grade 3 diarrhea (9 cases). No transplantation-related mortality occurred. Post-ASCT, 19 patients received maintenance therapy, which was demonstrated to be safe and effective. Three patients relapse, and one patient died. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients were not reached. The estimated 1-year and 2-year cumulative PFS rates were 88.4% and 66.3%, respectively, while the 1-year and 2-year OS rates were both 94.1%. CONCLUSION The modified thiotepa-based conditioning regimen combined with ASCT is safe and effective for the treatment of PCNSL.
Humans ; Thiotepa/therapeutic use* ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Transplantation Conditioning/methods* ; Central Nervous System Neoplasms/therapy* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Female ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Lymphoma/therapy* ; Treatment Outcome ; Aged

Allergen specific immunotherapy（AIT）, as an effective treatment for allergic rhinitis, asthma, and other allergic diseases, has received widespread attention in the field of health economic evaluation in recent years. This article reviews the current status and progress of economic research on AIT, mainly discussing the socioeconomic burden of allergic rhinitis, the results of health economic studies from different countries, and the primary methods used in health economic research on allergic rhinitis. Existing studies indicate that, although AIT involves high initial costs, it offers significant long-term economic benefits by reducing healthcare resource utilization, improving patient quality of life, and decreasing medication dependence. Moreover, reducing initial costs, applying standardized assessment tools, and conducting cross-national comparative analyses have become key directions for future research. Overall, AIT demonstrates strong potential in terms of long-term health benefits and cost savings, providing solid economic evidence for the management of allergic diseases.
Humans ; Desensitization, Immunologic/economics* ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Rhinitis, Allergic/economics* ; Economics, Medical

Allergen-specific immunotherapy（AIT） remains the only therapeutic approach with the potential to modify the natural course of allergic rhinitis（AR）. Nevertheless, considerable inter-individual variability exists in patients'responses to AIT. To facilitate more reliable assessment of treatment efficacy, the China Rhinopathy Research Cooperation Group（CRRCG） convened young and middle-aged nasal experts in China to formulate the present consensus. The recommended subjective outcome measures for AIT comprise symptom scores, medication scores, combined symptom and medication scores, quality-of-life assessments, evaluation of disease control, and assessment of comorbidities. Objective indicators may supplement these measures. Currently available objective approaches include skin prick testing, nasal provocation testing, and allergen exposure chambers. However, these methods remain constrained by practical limitations and are not yet appropriate for routine implementation in clinical efficacy evaluation. In addition, several biomarkers, including sIgE and the sIgE/tIgE ratio, sIgG4, serum IgE-blocking activity, IgA, cytokines and chemokines, as well as immune cell surface molecules and their functional activity, have been shown to have associations with AIT outcomes. While these biomarkers may complement subjective assessments, they are subject to significant limitations. Consequently, large-scale multicenter trials and real-world evidence are required to strengthen the evidence base. The present consensus underscores the necessity of integrating patients'subjective experiences with objective testing throughout the treatment process, thereby providing a more comprehensive and accurate framework for efficacy evaluation. Looking forward, future investigations should prioritize the incorporation of multi-omics data and artificial intelligence methodologies, which hold promise for overcoming current limitations in assessment strategies and for advancing both the standardization and personalization of AIT.
Humans ; Allergens/immunology* ; China ; Consensus ; Desensitization, Immunologic ; Immunoglobulin E ; Quality of Life ; Rhinitis, Allergic/therapy* ; Treatment Outcome ; East Asian People

Objective:To explore the efficacy of using drug combination and sublingual immunotherapy（SLIT） for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea（OSA） and allergic rhinitis（AR） after adenotonsillectomy, in order to provide a more optimized treatment plan after the surgery. Methods:A total of 95 pediatric OSA combined with AR were selected. According to the treatment plan, they were divided into the SLIT group（postoperative medication combined with SLIT） and the control group（postoperative medication treatment only）. The comparisons were made between the two groups regarding the scores of the 18-item Quality of Life Questionnaire for Obstructive Sleep Apnea（OSA-18） and the Visual Analogue Scale（VAS） before and at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after treatment; the monthly total medication scores（TMS） from 1 month to 3 months, 4 months to 6 months, 7 months to 1 year, and 1 year to 2 years after treatment, as well as the number of acute attacks of AR in the 1st year and 2nd year after treatment; and the Lund-Kennedy scores and nasal resistance grading of nasal endoscopy before and at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after treatment. The effectiveness and safety were also analyzed. Results:After one year of treatment, the OSA-18 score, VAS score, TMS and Lund-Kennedy score in the SLIT group were significantly better than those in the control group. The nasal resistance was significantly reduced（P<0.05）, and the frequency of AR attacks was significantly lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）. After 2 years of treatment, the VAS score, Lund-Kennedy score and nasal resistance classification in the SLIT group tended to stabilize, while the OSA-18 score continued to decline. Conclusion:After surgery for pediatric OSA combined with AR, the use of drugs combined with SLIT can effectively alleviate AR symptoms, further improve OSA-related symptoms and quality of life, reduce drug dependence, decrease the frequency of AR attacks, and enhance the long-term efficacy of the surgery.
Humans ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/surgery* ; Rhinitis, Allergic/therapy* ; Quality of Life ; Child ; Tonsillectomy ; Treatment Outcome ; Adenoidectomy ; Sublingual Immunotherapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Male ; Female