OBJECTIVE Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a major obstacle to successful allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT). While multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) demonstrate alloresponse in vitro and in vivo, they also have clinical applications toward prevention or treatment of GVHD. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of MSCs to prevent or treat GVHD in a rat...

Human Herpes Virus 6 (HHV6) is known to be commonly associated with encephalitis related to immunosuppression and transplantation, and to bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in particular.1 HHV-6 is known to be common in transplant recipients and lead to several clinical manifestations, such as encephalitis.1-4 HHV 6 encephalitis in patients with BMT is known as latent infection. The first such c...

AIMS To investigate whether serum amyloid A protein (SAA) and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations could be used in the management of beta thalassaemic patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT). METHODS Serum SAA and CRP concentrations were determined in paired samples from 66 patients with beta thalassaemia before and after BMT. Serum SAA concentrations were determined by an e...

We have quantified the relative contribution of donor antigen-presenting cell populations to alloantigen presentation after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) by using transgenic T cells that can respond to host-derived alloantigen presented within the donor major histocompatibility complex. We also used additional transgenic/knockout donor mice and/or monoclonal antibodies that allowed conditio...

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has emerged as a major therapeutic option for a number of nonmalignant disorders affecting the bone marrow and leading to clinical manifestations most likely affecting distant organs. Disorders such as autoimmune diseases, metabolic disorders, hemoglobinopathies, immunodeficiencies, and others have been the target of high-dose therapy and autologous or allogene...

The quality of long-term hematopoietic engraftment after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has not been well characterized. Clinical autologous BMT involves removal of <5% of the total content of the recipient marrow followed by ablation of the remaining marrow and reinfusion. To study long-term consequences of transplanting limited numbers of BM stem cells further, we evaluated the hematopoiet...

Host Foxp3+CD4+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been shown to suppress graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in experimental bone marrow transplantation (BMT) models; however, the detailed mechanism is unknown. To address this issue, we established a murine MHC-haploidentical BMT model (BDF1 (H-2b/d) → B6C3F1 (H-2b/k)), in which transplantation following conditioning with high-dose (13 Gy) or low-do...

In sickle cell anemia (SCA), the loss of reticuloendothelial function is the result of vasoocclusive events occurring in the spleen. Such asplenia occurs early in the course of the disease and is considered to be permanent in late childhood. In this report, three patients 10, 11, and 14 years of age suffering from severe SCA and found to be asplenic were treated by bone marrow transplantation (...

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is currently the treatment of choice for patients with globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD), particularly in the early phases of the disease. Elevated interleukin (IL)-6 levels in the central nervous system of the twitcher mouse, an animal model for GLD, have been held responsible for severe graft versus host disease (GVHD), and IL-6 knock-out mice have shown lowe...

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) causes herpes zoster after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The immunogenicity of heat-inactivated varicella vaccine and effects on VZV pathogenesis were evaluated in 75 BMT patients randomized to receive vaccine or no intervention. Among 14 patients given a single dose at 1 month after transplantation, the mean (+/-SE) stimulation index (SI) was 12.20 +/- 3.13 co...