Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2005 Sep 29;360(1461):1747-67.
doi: 10.1098/rstb.2005.1701.

Bone marrow transplantation and approaches to avoid graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)

Bruce R Blazar  1 , William J Murphy
Affiliations
Review

Bone marrow transplantation and approaches to avoid graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)

Bruce R Blazar et al. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. .

Abstract

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) offers promise for the treatment of haematological and immune disorders, solid tumours, and as a tolerance inducing regimen for organ transplantation. Allogeneic HSCTs engraftment requires immunosuppression and the anti-tumour effects are dependent upon the immune effector cells that are contained within or generated from the donor graft. However, significant toxicities currently limit its efficacy. These problems include: (i) graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in which donor T cells attack the recipient resulting in multi-organ attack and morbidity, (ii) a profound period of immune deficiency following HSCT, and (iii) donor graft rejection. Currently available methods to prevent or treat GVHD with systemic immunosuppression can lead to impaired immune recovery, increased opportunistic infections, and higher relapse rates. This review will provide an overview of GVHD pathophysiology and discuss the roles of various cells, pathways, and factors in the GVHD generation process and in the preservation of graft-versus-tumour effects. Variables that need to be taken into consideration in attempting to extrapolate preclinical results to the clinical paradigm will be highlighted.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of GVHD pathophysiology.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Current means to prevent GVHD.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Agata Y, Kawasaki A, Nishimura H, Ishida Y, Tsubata T, Yagita H, Honjo T. Expression of the PD-1 antigen on the surface of stimulated mouse T and B lymphocytes. Int. Immunol. 1996;8:765–772. - PubMed
    1. Aicher A, Hayden-Ledbetter M, Brady W.A, Pezzutto A, Richter G, Magaletti D, Buckwalter S, Ledbetter J.A, Clark E.A. Characterization of human inducible costimulator ligand expression and function. J. Immunol. 2000;164:4689–4696. - PubMed
    1. Akiba H, et al. Critical contribution of OX40 ligand to T helper cell type 2 differentiation in experimental leishmaniasis. J. Exp. Med. 2000;191:375–380. doi:10.1084/jem.191.2.375 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Albert M.H, Yu X.Z, Martin P.J, Anasetti C. Prevention of lethal acute GVHD with an agonistic CD28 antibody and rapamycin. Blood. 2005;105:1355–1361. doi:10.1182/blood-2004-08-3305 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alderson M.R, et al. Molecular and biological characterization of human 4-1BB and its ligand. Eur. J. Immunol. 1994;24:2219–2227. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms