Browsing by Subject "Graft vs. Host Disease"

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    B-cell activating factor (BAFF) plasma level at the time of chronic GvHD diagnosis is a potential predictor of non-relapse mortality
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2017-07) Saliba, R.M.; Sarantopoulos, S.; Kitko, C.L.; Pawarode, A.; Goldstein, S.C.; Magenau, J.; Alousi, A.M.; Churay, T.; Justman, H.; Paczesny, Sophie; Reddy, P.; Couriel, D.R.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Biological markers for risk stratification of chronic GvHD (cGvHD) could improve the care of patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Increased plasma levels of B-cell activating factor (BAFF), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 9 (CXCL9) and elafin have been associated with the diagnosis, but not with outcome in patients with cGvHD. We evaluated the association between levels of these soluble proteins, measured by ELISA at the time of cGvHD diagnosis and before the initiation of therapy, with non-relapse-mortality (NRM). Based on the log-transformed values, factor levels were divided into tertiles defined respectively as low, intermediate, and high levels. On univariable analysis, BAFF levels were significantly associated with NRM, whereas CXCL9 and elafin levels were not. Both low (⩽2.3 ng/mL, hazard ratio (HR)=5.8, P=0.03) and high (>5.7 ng/mL, HR=5.4, P=0.03) BAFF levels were associated with a significantly higher NRM compared with intermediate BAFF level. The significant effect of high or low BAFF levels persisted in multivariable analysis. A subset of cGvHD patients had persistently low BAFF levels. In conclusion, our data show that BAFF levels at the time of cGvHD diagnosis are associated with NRM, and also are potentially useful for risk stratification. These results warrant confirmation in larger studies.
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    Challenges with Intestine and Multivisceral Re-Transplantation: Importance of Timing of Re-Transplantation and Optimal Immunosuppression
    (Springer, 2018-02-06) Kubal, Chandrashekhar A.; Pennington, Catherine; Fridell, Jonathan; Ekser, Burcin; Muhaylov, Plamen; Mangus, Richard; Surgery, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND Patients undergoing re-transplantation often receive high doses of immunosuppression, which may lead to an immunocompromised status of the recipient. This study investigates the outcomes after intestine/multivisceral re-transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS Clinical outcomes of 23 patients undergoing 24 re-transplantations at a single intestine transplant center were reviewed. Bone marrow suppression was used as a surrogate marker of immunocompromised status, and was defined as platelet count <50 k/mm3 and absolute lymphocyte count <200/mm³. RESULTS All re-transplants except one were liver inclusive. Fifteen of 23 patients died at a median time of 12 months (range 0.2-75) after re-transplantation. Of the 15 deaths, nine (60%) resulted from complications associated with a compromised host immune status: graft versus host disease (GVHD) affecting bone marrow (three cases), persistent viral infection (three cases), post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD (one case), metastatic cancer (one case), multi-drug resistant polymicrobial sepsis (one case). Four deaths (27%) resulted from severe rejection. Non-survivors were more likely to have received alemtuzumab, and had higher incidence of bone marrow suppression. In addition to immunocompromised status and rejection, the use of alemtuzumab was associated with mortality after intestinal/multivisceral re-transplantation. CONCLUSIONS High mortality was associated with intestine/multivisceral re-transplantation. To improve clinical outcomes of intestine and multivisceral transplantation, it is important to allow reconstitution of host immunity. Longer interval between the two transplantations, and strategies such as allograft specific immunosuppression, may spare the host from the devastating effects of potent immunosuppression currently used.