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Circulating monocyte subsets in human chronic graft-versus-host disease

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 53, pages 1532–1540 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is a major cause of late morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Monocytes/macrophages play a central role in inflammation, tissue repair, and fibrosis, which are the main clinical features of cGVHD. Here, we examined the expression levels of activation markers, chemokine receptors, and scavenger receptors for each circulating monocyte subset in 145 patients without disease recurrence at least 12 months after undergoing allogeneic HCT. There were no significant differences in the numbers and the proportions of each monocyte subset between patients without cGVHD and those with mild or moderate/severe cGVHD. Lower expression of CCR5 on classical monocytes, and higher expression of CD204 and lower expression of CX3CR1 on non-classical monocytes were associated with joint, and lung cGVHD, respectively. These data showed that alterations of activation markers and chemokine and scavenger receptors in each circulating monocyte subset were associated with the development of organ-specific cGVHD. Alterations of surface markers in each circulating monocyte subset may be candidate biomarkers for cGVHD.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all of the physicians and staff at the hospital for their help in this study. We also thank Yun Lin and Kazutomo Ogata for technical help. This work was supported in part by grants-in-aid from Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and Takeda Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology/Oncology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Takaaki Konuma, Chisato Kohara, Maki Oiwa-Monna, Susumu Tanoue, Masamichi Isobe, Koji Jimbo, Seiko Kato, Satoshi Takahashi & Arinobu Tojo

  2. Department of IMSUT Clinical Flow Cytometry Laboratory, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Eri Watanabe

  3. Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Motoko Mizukami & Etsuko Nagai

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  1. Takaaki Konuma
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Correspondence to Takaaki Konuma.

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Konuma, T., Kohara, C., Watanabe, E. et al. Circulating monocyte subsets in human chronic graft-versus-host disease. Bone Marrow Transplant 53, 1532–1540 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-018-0187-4

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