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Cytokines

Kinetic analysis of cytokine gene expression in patients with GVHD after donor lymphocyte infusion

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 27, pages 373–380 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Patients who receive a donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) for the treatment of relapsed leukemia after allogeneic BMT (alloBMT) often developed GVHD. To determine whether cytokines might have a role in GVHD, an intensive kinetic analysis of in vivo cytokine gene expression was performed on PBMC from three such patients. Expression of IL-1β, IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-5, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-α, and IL-2Rα was examined using a sensitive semi-quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assay system. Six normal controls were also analyzed for comparison. Expression of type 1 T helper (Th1) cytokines, IL-2 and IFN-γ was greatly increased in all three patients. In particular, the changes in IL-2 gene expression correlated well with disease progression, suggesting that IL-2 has a critical role in the development of GVHD. Although the pattern of type 2 T helper (Th2) cytokine gene expression differed in each patient, the expression of IL-4 was inversely related to expression of Th1 cytokines. These results suggest that Th1 dominates in the development of human clinical GVHD. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2001) 27, 373–380.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Ms I Ushio and Ms K Miki for their excellent technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hyogo Institute of Clinical Research, Hyogo, Japan

    H Das, T Sugimoto, R Taniguchi, K Toda, R Nishimura & T Koizumi

  2. Hematology/Oncology Division, Hyogo Medical Center for Adults, Hyogo, Japan

    S Imoto, T Murayama, I Mizuno, T Nakagawa & T Koizumi

  3. Department of Medicine, Kobe University School of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan

    T Isobe

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Das, H., Imoto, S., Murayama, T. et al. Kinetic analysis of cytokine gene expression in patients with GVHD after donor lymphocyte infusion. Bone Marrow Transplant 27, 373–380 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1702799

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