Clearance of CMV viremia and survival after double umbilical cord blood transplantation in adults depends on reconstitution of thymopoiesis.

ABSTRACT: Umbilical cord blood grafts are increasingly used as sources of hematopoietic stem cells in adults. Data regarding the outcome of this approach in adults are consistent with delayed and insufficient immune reconstitution resulting in high infection-related morbidity and mortality. Using cytomegalovirus (CMV)-specific immunity as a paradigm, we evaluated the status, mechanism, and clinical implications of immune reconstitution in adults with hematologic malignancies undergoing unrelated double unit cord blood transplantation. Our data indicate that CD8(+) T cells capable of secreting interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in a CMV-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) assay are detectable at 8 weeks after transplantation, before reconstitution of thymopoiesis, but fail to clear CMV vire

SUBMITTER: Brown JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3372946 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature