Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0018133 (graft-versus-host disease)
 18,032 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Expression of HLA Class II antigen on keratinocytes has been advocated as a diagnostic marker of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). LN-3 is a murine monoclonal antibody marking an HLA Class II antigen that survives formalin fixation and paraffin embedding. We analyzed the LN-3 staining pattern on 56 skin biopsies from patients treated with bone marrow or peripheral stem cell transplantation, non-transplant patients receiving conventional chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy and controls. Keratinocyte staining, endothelial staining, and the number of epidermal and dermal Langerhans cells were evaluated and analyzed with respect to the histologic and clinical diagnosis in a blind and retrospective fashion. The most predictive parameter for GVHD was marking of endothelial cells by LN-3 which was present in 12 of 16 (75%) biopsies from patients with GVHD. Endothelial staining was found in a total of 19 biopsies of which 12 (63%) had GVHD. These data suggest that LN-3 immunohistochemistry may help identify cutaneous GVHD and discriminate it from conditions that are histologically similar.
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PMID:LN-3: a diagnostic adjunct in cutaneous graft-versus-host disease. 170 11

Human cord blood is an attractive alternative to marrow-derived stem cells for transplantation. Experiences with cord blood transplants suggest that graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) may be less readily induced, even in the face of HLA differences. However, this decreased potential for GvHD might also abrogate the graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effects of the transplant. The GvL potential might be doubly compromised since cord blood NK activity is also decreased. We have compared alloreactivity, NK cell activity and lymphokine-activated killer cell (LAK) activity of cord blood mononuclear cells with adult mononuclear cells. We find a reduced (but not absent) alloproliferative, allostimulatory and allocytotoxic capacity of cord blood mononuclear cells. Phenotyping revealed no significant differences in the proportion of T cells in cord-versus-adult blood, but cord blood T cells were nearly all of the naive CD45RA subset. Expression of LFA-1 alpha and LFA-1 beta was normal on resting cord T cells; however, they expressed significantly less ICAM-1 (CD54) than did adult PBMC. Cord blood B cells and monocytes expressed normal levels of HLA Class II. Although no differences were found in NK cell percentages or subsets in resting cord blood, cord blood NK activity was very low. However, LAK activity was much more readily induced in cord blood as compared to adult PBMC, which could be explained in part by a higher frequency of LAK precursors (LAKp). Cord blood LAK cells were readily able to lyse fresh leukemia targets from patients with ALL, AML, and CML.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Characterization of cord blood lymphocyte subpopulations. 792 75

MHC Class II deficiency is a rare primary immunodeficiency disease characterized by absent HLA Class II expression resulting in CD4 lymphopenia, lack of Ag-specific responses and recurrent infection. Without successful allogeneic SCT, most children succumb to infection within the first decade of life. To date, alternative donor transplants for this disorder have been inferior to SCT for other forms of combined immunodeficiency disease due to an increased incidence of graft rejection, GVHD and death from infections generally acquired before haematopoietic cell transplantation. This study details the transplant outcome of 16 affected children consecutively transplanted at four centers since 1990, 8 of whom required mechanical ventilation pretransplant. Stem cells were derived from an HLA-mismatched family member (n=10), an HLA-matched unrelated adult donor (n=4), or an unrelated cord blood donor (n=2). Graft failure occurred in five children, all of whom underwent a second SCT. Six patients developed acute GVHD although no patient developed chronic GVHD after primary transplantation. CD4 T-cell reconstitution remained below the normal range for age, suggesting defective thymopoiesis after allo-SCT. Nonetheless, 69% of children survive without GVHD at a median follow-up of 5.7 years, indicating improved outcomes compared with previous studies.
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PMID:Alternative donor SCT for the treatment of MHC class II deficiency. 2300 Jun 50