Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Graft-Versus-Host Disease

A single nucleotide polymorphism of IL-17 gene in the recipient is associated with acute GVHD after HLA-matched unrelated BMT

Abstract

IL-17 has an important role in the host defense against extracellular pathogens and the pathophysiology of autoimmune diseases. This study retrospectively examined the impact of a single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs2275913, G197A) in the IL-17 gene of a total 510 recipients with hematologic malignancies and their unrelated donors on the clinical outcomes in HLA-matched myeloablative (discovery study) and nonmyeloablative (validation study) BMT through the Japan Marrow Donor Program (JMDP). In the discovery study, the presence of a 197A genotype in the recipient resulted in a higher incidence of grades II–IV acute GVHD (hazard ratio (HR), 1.87; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.23–2.85; P=0.004). The donor IL-17A genotype did not significantly influence the transplant outcomes. The validation study showed a trend toward an association of the recipient 197A genotype with an increased risk of grades III–IV acute GVHD (HR, 5.84; 95% CI, 0.75–45.72; P=0.09), as well as a significantly increased risk for chronic GVHD (HR, 3.86; 95% CI, 1.29–11.59; P=0.02). These results suggest an association of the 197A genotype in the recipient side with the development of acute GVHD.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gratwohl A, Brand R, Frassoni F, Rocha V, Niederwieser D, Reusser P et al. Cause of death after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in early leukaemias: an EBMT analysis of lethal infectious complications and changes over calendar time. Bone Marrow Transplant 2005; 36: 757–769.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Dickinson AM, Middleton PG, Rocha V, Gluckman E, Holler E . Genetic polymorphisms predicting the outcome of bone marrow transplants. Br J Haematol 2004; 127: 479–490.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Elmaagacli AH, Koldehoff M, Landt O, Beelen DW . Relation of an interleukin-23 receptor gene polymorphism to graft-versus-host disease after hematopoietic-cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 2008; 41: 821–826.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Gerbitz A, Hillemanns P, Schmid C, Wilke A, Jayaraman R, Kolb HJ et al. Influence of polymorphism within the heme oxygenase-I promoter on overall survival and transplantation-related mortality after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2008; 14: 1180–1189.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Kim DH, Jung HD, Lee NY, Sohn SK . Single nucleotide polymorphism of CC chemokine ligand 5 promoter gene in recipients may predict the risk of chronic graft-versus-host disease and its severity after allogeneic transplantation. Transplantation 2007; 84: 917–925.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Noori-Daloii MR, Rashidi-Nezhad A, Izadi P, Hossein-Nezhad A, Sobhani M, Derakhshandeh-Peykar P et al. Transforming growth factor-beta1 codon 10 polymorphism is associated with acute GVHD after allogenic BMT in Iranian population. Ann Transplant 2007; 12: 5–10.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Viel DO, Tsuneto LT, Sossai CR, Lieber SR, Marques SB, Vigorito AC et al. IL2 and TNFA gene polymorphisms and the risk of graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Scand J Immunol 2007; 66: 703–710.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Sugimoto K, Murata M, Onizuka M, Inamoto Y, Terakura S, Kuwatsuka Y et al. Decreased risk of acute graft-versus-host disease following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with the 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase 677TT genotype. Int J Hematol 2008; 87: 451–458.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Ostrovsky O, Shimoni A, Rand A, Vlodavsky I, Nagler A . Genetic variations in the heparanase gene (HPSE) associate with increased risk of GVHD following allogeneic stem cell transplantation: effect of discrepancy between recipients and donors. Blood 2010; 115: 2319–2328.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Takami A, Espinoza JL, Onizuka M, Ishiyama K, Kawase T, Kanda Y et al. A single-nucleotide polymorphism of the Fcgamma receptor type IIIA gene in the recipient predicts transplant outcomes after HLA fully matched unrelated BMT for myeloid malignancies. Bone Marrow Transplant 2010 (e-pub ahead of print 19 April 2010; doi:10.1038/bmt.2010.88)

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. McDermott DH, Conway SE, Wang T, Ricklefs SM, Agovi MA, Porcella SF et al. Donor and recipient chemokine receptor CCR5 genotype is associated with survival after bone marrow transplantation. Blood 2010; 115: 2311–2318.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Espinoza JL, Takami A, Onizuka M, Sao H, Akiyama H, Miyamura K et al. NKG2D gene polymorphism has a significant impact on transplant outcomes after HLA-fully-matched unrelated bone marrow transplantation for standard risk hematologic malignancies. Haematologica 2009; 94: 1427–1434.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Yao Z, Fanslow WC, Seldin MF, Rousseau AM, Painter SL, Comeau MR et al. Herpesvirus Saimiri encodes a new cytokine, IL-17, which binds to a novel cytokine receptor. Immunity 1995; 3: 811–821.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Yu JJ, Gaffen SL . Interleukin-17: a novel inflammatory cytokine that bridges innate and adaptive immunity. Front Biosci 2008; 13: 170–177.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Gaffen SL . Structure and signalling in the IL-17 receptor family. Nat Rev Immunol 2009; 9: 556–567.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Miossec P, Korn T, Kuchroo VK . Interleukin-17 and type 17 helper T cells. N Engl J Med 2009; 361: 888–898.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. O’Brien RL, Roark CL, Born WK . IL-17-producing gammadelta T cells. Eur J Immunol 2009; 39: 662–666.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Schulz SM, Kohler G, Holscher C, Iwakura Y, Alber G . IL-17A is produced by Th17, gammadelta T cells and other CD4- lymphocytes during infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and has a mild effect in bacterial clearance. Int Immunol 2008; 20: 1129–1138.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Awasthi A, Kuchroo VK . Th17 cells: from precursors to players in inflammation and infection. Int Immunol 2009; 21: 489–498.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Ishigame H, Kakuta S, Nagai T, Kadoki M, Nambu A, Komiyama Y et al. Differential roles of interleukin-17A and -17F in host defense against mucoepithelial bacterial infection and allergic responses. Immunity 2009; 30: 108–119.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Chabaud M, Fossiez F, Taupin JL, Miossec P . Enhancing effect of IL-17 on IL-1-induced IL-6 and leukemia inhibitory factor production by rheumatoid arthritis synoviocytes and its regulation by Th2 cytokines. J Immunol 1998; 161: 409–414.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Kirkham BW, Lassere MN, Edmonds JP, Juhasz KM, Bird PA, Lee CS et al. Synovial membrane cytokine expression is predictive of joint damage progression in rheumatoid arthritis: a two-year prospective study (the DAMAGE study cohort). Arthritis Rheum 2006; 54: 1122–1131.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Ciprandi G, De Amici M, Murdaca G, Fenoglio D, Ricciardolo F, Marseglia G et al. Serum interleukin-17 levels are related to clinical severity in allergic rhinitis. Allergy 2009; 64: 1375–1378.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Fujino S, Andoh A, Bamba S, Ogawa A, Hata K, Araki Y et al. Increased expression of interleukin 17 in inflammatory bowel disease. Gut 2003; 52: 65–70.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Zrioual S, Ecochard R, Tournadre A, Lenief V, Cazalis MA, Miossec P . Genome-wide comparison between IL-17A- and IL-17F-induced effects in human rheumatoid arthritis synoviocytes. J Immunol 2009; 182: 3112–3120.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Antonysamy MA, Fanslow WC, Fu F, Li W, Qian S, Troutt AB et al. Evidence for a role of IL-17 in organ allograft rejection: IL-17 promotes the functional differentiation of dendritic cell progenitors. J Immunol 1999; 162: 577–584.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Vanaudenaerde BM, Dupont LJ, Wuyts WA, Verbeken EK, Meyts I, Bullens DM et al. The role of interleukin-17 during acute rejection after lung transplantation. Eur Respir J 2006; 27: 779–787.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Van Kooten C, Boonstra JG, Paape ME, Fossiez F, Banchereau J, Lebecque S et al. Interleukin-17 activates human renal epithelial cells in vitro and is expressed during renal allograft rejection. J Am Soc Nephrol 1998; 9: 1526–1534.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Loong CC, Hsieh HG, Lui WY, Chen A, Lin CY . Evidence for the early involvement of interleukin 17 in human and experimental renal allograft rejection. J Pathol 2002; 197: 322–332.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Yi T, Chen Y, Wang L, Du G, Huang D, Zhao D et al. Reciprocal differentiation and tissue-specific pathogenesis of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells in graft-versus-host disease. Blood 2009; 114: 3101–3112.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Yi T, Zhao D, Lin CL, Zhang C, Chen Y, Todorov I et al. Absence of donor Th17 leads to augmented Th1 differentiation and exacerbated acute graft-versus-host disease. Blood 2008; 112: 2101–2110.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Tawara I, Maeda Y, Sun Y, Lowler KP, Liu C, Toubai T et al. Combined Th2 cytokine deficiency in donor T cells aggravates experimental acute graft-vs-host disease. Exp Hematol 2008; 36: 988–996.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  33. Kappel LW, Goldberg GL, King CG, Suh DY, Smith OM, Ligh C et al. IL-17 contributes to CD4-mediated graft-versus-host disease. Blood 2009; 113: 945–952.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Iclozan C, Yu Y, Liu C, Liang Y, Yi T, Anasetti C et al. Th17 cells are sufficient but not necessary to induce acute graft-versus-host disease. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2009; 16: 170–178.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Carlson MJ, West ML, Coghill JM, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, Blazar BR, Serody JS . In vitro-differentiated TH17 cells mediate lethal acute graft-versus-host disease with severe cutaneous and pulmonary pathologic manifestations. Blood 2009; 113: 1365–1374.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  36. Arisawa T, Tahara T, Shibata T, Nagasaka M, Nakamura M, Kamiya Y et al. The influence of polymorphisms of interleukin-17A and interleukin-17F genes on the susceptibility to ulcerative colitis. J Clin Immunol 2008; 28: 44–49.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Furuya T, Hakoda M, Ichikawa N, Higami K, Nanke Y, Yago T et al. Associations between HLA-DRB1, RANK, RANKL, OPG, and IL-17 genotypes and disease severity phenotypes in Japanese patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Rheumatol 2007; 26: 2137–2141.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Nordang GB, Viken MK, Hollis-Moffatt JE, Merriman TR, Forre OT, Helgetveit K et al. Association analysis of the interleukin 17A gene in Caucasian rheumatoid arthritis patients from Norway and New Zealand. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2009; 48: 367–370.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Southam L, Heath O, Chapman K, Loughlin J . Association analysis of the interleukin 17 genes IL17A and IL17F as potential osteoarthritis susceptibility loci. Ann Rheum Dis 2006; 65: 556–557.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Kawase T, Morishima Y, Matsuo K, Kashiwase K, Inoko H, Saji H et al. High-risk HLA allele mismatch combinations responsible for severe acute graft-versus-host disease and implication for its molecular mechanism. Blood 2007; 110: 2235–2241.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Sasazuki T, Juji T, Morishima Y, Kinukawa N, Kashiwabara H, Inoko H et al. Effect of matching of class I HLA alleles on clinical outcome after transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells from an unrelated donor. Japan Marrow Donor Program. N Engl J Med 1998; 339: 1177–1185.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Morishima Y, Yabe T, Matsuo K, Kashiwase K, Inoko H, Saji H et al. Effects of HLA allele and killer immunoglobulin-like receptor ligand matching on clinical outcome in leukemia patients undergoing transplantation with T-cell-replete marrow from an unrelated donor. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2007; 13: 315–328.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Livak KJ . Allelic discrimination using fluorogenic probes and the 5′ nuclease assay. Genet Anal 1999; 14: 143–149.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Przepiorka D, Weisdorf D, Martin P, Klingemann HG, Beatty P, Hows J et al. 1994 Consensus Conference on Acute GVHD Grading. Bone Marrow Transplant 1995; 15: 825–828.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Shulman HM, Sullivan KM, Weiden PL, McDonald GB, Striker GE, Sale GE et al. Chronic graft-versus-host syndrome in man. A long-term clinicopathologic study of 20 Seattle patients. Am J Med 1980; 69: 204–217.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Scrucca L, Santucci A, Aversa F . Competing risk analysis using R: an easy guide for clinicians. Bone Marrow Transplant 2007; 40: 381–387.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Gooley TA, Leisenring W, Crowley J, Storer BE . Estimation of failure probabilities in the presence of competing risks: new representations of old estimators. Stat Med 1999; 18: 695–706.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Shibata T, Tahara T, Hirata I, Arisawa T . Genetic polymorphism of interleukin-17A and -17F genes in gastric carcinogenesis. Hum Immunol 2009; 70: 547–551.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Alexandra HF, Daniel W, Steven P, Gerard S, John RW, Stephanie JL et al. National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Project on Criteria for Clinical Trials in Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease: I.Diagnosis and Staging Working Group Report. Biol Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2005; 11: 945–956.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Murashige N, Kami M, Mori S, Katayama Y, Kobayashi K, Onishi Y et al. Characterization of acute graft-versus-host disease following reduced-intensity stem-cell transplantation from an HLA-identical related donor. Am J Hematol 2008; 83: 630–634.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Vigorito AC, Campregher PV, Storer BE, Carpenter PA, Moravec CK, Kiem H-P et al. Evaluation of NIH consensus criteria for classification of late acute and chronic GVHD. Blood 2009; 114: 702–708.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  52. Shlomchik WD, Couzens MS, Tang CB, McNiff J, Robert ME, Liu J et al. Prevention of graft versus host disease by inactivation of host antigen-presenting cells. Science 1999; 285: 412–415.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Teshima T, Ordemann R, Reddy P, Gagin S, Liu C, Cooke KR et al. Acute graft-versus-host disease does not require alloantigen expression on host epithelium. Nat Med 2002; 8: 575–581.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Duffner UA, Maeda Y, Cooke KR, Reddy P, Ordemann R, Liu C et al. Host dendritic cells alone are sufficient to initiate acute graft-versus-host disease. J Immunol 2004; 172: 7393–7398.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Goldstone AH, Richards SM, Lazarus HM, Tallman MS, Buck G, Fielding AK et al. In adults with standard-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the greatest benefit is achieved from a matched sibling allogeneic transplantation in first complete remission, and an autologous transplantation is less effective than conventional consolidation/maintenance chemotherapy in all patients: final results of the International ALL Trial (MRC UKALL XII/ECOG E2993). Blood 2008; 111: 1827–1833.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Thomas E, Buckner C, Banaji M, Clift R, Fefer A, Flournoy N et al. One hundred patients with acute leukemia treated by chemotherapy, total body irradiation, and allogeneic marrow transplantation. Blood 1977; 49: 511–533.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Boeckh M, Nichols WG . The impact of cytomegalovirus serostatus of donor and recipient before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the era of antiviral prophylaxis and preemptive therapy. Blood 2004; 103: 2003–2008.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Kollman C, Howe CW, Anasetti C, Antin JH, Davies SM, Filipovich AH et al. Donor characteristics as risk factors in recipients after transplantation of bone marrow from unrelated donors: the effect of donor age. Blood 2001; 98: 2043–2051.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Miller RA . The aging immune system: primer and prospectus. Science 1996; 273: 70–74.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to Drs Hiroko Oshima, Masanobu Oshima and Atsushi Hirao, Ms Kayoko Yamada, Mayu Yamada and Yuki Motohashi at Kanazawa University, and Dr Keitaro Matsuo at Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute for their technical assistance. We thank all of the Japan Marrow Donor Program transplant teams who have contributed patients and donors to this study. This study was supported by grants from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, sports and Technology, and Funds from the Mitani Research and Development Assistance Organization (Kanazawa, Japan) and by the Japan Leukemia Research Fund (Tokyo, Japan).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Consortia

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A Takami.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Espinoza, J., Takami, A., Onizuka, M. et al. A single nucleotide polymorphism of IL-17 gene in the recipient is associated with acute GVHD after HLA-matched unrelated BMT. Bone Marrow Transplant 46, 1455–1463 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2010.325

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2010.325

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links