Differences of Immune Reconstitution of Dendritic Cells in Pediatric GvHD Patients After Allogenic Stem Cell Transplantation

We examined immune reconstitution (T, B, and NK cells and dendritic cells) at defined time points in a pediatric cohort who underwent 61 allogeneic HSCTs. Results: Regarding DC reconstitution we found a fast reconstitution of the DC compartment negatively correlated with age. After HSCT, both myeloid DC (mDC) and plasmacytoid DC (pDC) counts recover to pre-HSCT levels within 2 months. Higher CCR7 positive cell counts were found in patients receiving TBI during engraftment and during the whole posttransplant period we found a correlation with an improved outcome. In cGVHD patients decreased total DC counts and increased pDCs were found after day+100. No relevant correlation was achieved regarding to HLA-matching, stem cell manipulation of the graft as well as HSCT-indication compared with different DC counts. Discussion: Pathogenesis of cGvHD remains complex. Our data suggest an influence of dendritic cells, which may contribute to the clinical picture and should be further investigated in future studies.
Source: Journal of Pediatric Hematology Oncology - Category: Hematology Tags: Online Articles: Original Articles Source Type: research