Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are used as salvage therapy to treat steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD). We studied the immunological response to MSC treatment in 16 aGvHD patients by assessing lymphocyte profiles and three proposed aGvHD serum markers during the MSC treatment. Surprisingly, there were no obvious differences in the lymphocyte profiles between the respon...

Epidermal keratinocytes form the first cellular barrier of skin for protection against external injuries and maintenance local tissue homeostasis. Accordingly, epidermal destruction presents a central pathomechanism in type I inflammatory diseases such as acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). In present work, we studied cell death context interferon-γ (IFNγ)-dependent aGVHD on culture level,...

BACKGROUND Hydrogen, as a novel antioxidant, has been shown to selectively reduce the level of hydroxyl radicals and alleviate acute oxidative stress in many animal experiments. Hydrogen-rich saline provides a high concentration of hydrogen that can be easily and safely applied. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) has been the most curative therapy for hematological malign...

Increasing evidence indicates that the gut microbiota is closely associated with acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in stem cell transplantation (SCT). Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) could represent an alternative treatment option for aGVHD. However, FMT for SCT patients carries a potential risk of infection by infused microbiota because of the severely immunosuppressed status. We ...

Murine CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg cells) reduce acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD). However, surface molecules critical for suppression are unclear. Deficiency of CD30 (CD30-/-) leads to impaired thymic negative selection and augmented T-cell autoreactivity. Therefore, we investigated the role of CD30 signaling in Treg-cell function during aGvHD. Treg cells derived from CD30-/- ani...

To evaluate the potential role of human herpesvirus type 6 (HHV-6) infection in patients after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) we sequentially analyzed buffy coat leukocytes, oral lavage fluid, and urine from 57 patients for the presence of HHV-6 DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) before and after 60 BMTs. Twenty-four patients undergoing autologous BMT and 36 with allogeneic BMT were stud...

Therapeutic effects of combined cell therapy with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and regulatory T cells (Treg cells) have recently been studied in acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGVHD) models. However, the underlying, seemingly synergistic mechanism behind combined cell therapy has not been determined. We investigated the origin of Foxp3+ Treg cells and interleukin 17 (IL-17+) cells in recipie...

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and infections are two major complications of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). In the course of GVHD, one of the pathways that activated cytotoxic T cells use to execute their killing mechanisms is the Fas/Fas ligand pathway. This killing mechanism might be accompanied by the release of soluble Fas (sFas) in the circulation. To examine the associati...

Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) often precludes successful immunotherapy of hematologic malignancies with allogeneic T cells. Therefore, we investigated the effect of immunomodulatory superagonistic anti-CD28 monoclonal antibodies (CD28-SA) on the capacity of allogeneic T cells to mediate both aGVHD and the protective graft-versus-tumor (GVT) response. In vivo pretreatment of donor C57B...