Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a common complication of hematopoietic (blood forming) stem cell transplants in which immune cells in the transplanted marrow recognize the recipient as "foreign" and mount an immunologic attack. This complication can not only be serious and require lifelong medication but can also sometimes be fatal. HSCI Principal Faculty member Jerome Ritz and colleagues recently further investigated chronic GVHD pathogenesis. Previous experiments suggested a role for a specific type of immune cell, a B cell, in chronic GVHD. Ritz and colleagues pursued the role of B cells in chronic GVHD by characterizing them in patients after they have had hematopoietic stem cell transplants. They found that patients with chronic GVHD had much higher levels of a factor called B cell activating factor (BAFF) as well as of certain types of antibodies. The researchers were then able to delineate specific abnormalities in B cell homeostasis in patients with chronic GVHD. These novel insights into the immunological mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of chronic GVHD will enable progress toward developing better therapeutics for both prevention and treatment.

Sarantopoulos, S., Stevenson, K.E., Kim, H.T., Cutler, C.S., Bhuiya, N.S., Schowalter, M., Ho, V.T., Alyea, E.P., Koreth, J., Blazar, B.R., Soiffer, R.J., Antin, J.H., Ritz, J. (2009). Altered B cell homeostasis and excess BAFF in human chronic graft versus host disease. Blood. Jan 23. [Epub ahead of print]