Post-transplantation B cell activating factor and B cell recovery before onset of chronic graft-versus-host disease.

ABSTRACT: Excessive levels of B cell activating factor (BAFF) are found in patients with active chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). In mice, BAFF has been shown to be essential for B cell recovery after myeloablation. To assess how BAFF levels relate to transplantation factors and subsequent development of cGVHD, we prospectively monitored 412 patients in the first year after allogeneic peripheral blood or bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and censored data at time of cGVHD onset. In patients who did not develop cGVHD, we affirmed a temporal pattern of gradually decreasing BAFF levels as B cell numbers increase after myeloablative conditioning. In contrast, after reduced-intensity conditioning, BAFF levels remained high throughout the first post-HSCT year, suggesting

SUBMITTER: Jacobson CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3985384 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature