Severe chronic graft-versus-host disease is characterized by a preponderance of CD4(+) effector memory cells relative to central memory cells.
Donor alloreactive CD4(+) T cells are important to the pathogenesis of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), but specific subsets of CD4(+) T cells responsible for GVHD have not been defined. We hypothesized that cGVHD might be associated with a preponderance of CD4(+) effector memory cells (CCR7(-)/CD62L(low), CD4(EM)). We analyzed CCR7 and CD62L expression on CD4(+) T cells from stem cell transplantation patients, who did or did not develop cGVHD, and healthy donors. Patients with cGVHD had a higher percentage of CD4(EM) cells (35.5% +/- 2.9%) than healthy donors (13.8% +/- 0.7%; P <.0001) or patients without cGVHD that received a transplant (21.7% +/- 2.1%; P <.01). Using corticosteroid dose as a surrogate marker for cGVHD severity, severe cGVHD was associated with a higher percentage of CD4(EM) cells. The proportion of CD4(EM) cells in corticosteroid-dependent patients with systemic lupus erythematosis or Wegener granulomatosis did not differ from patients without cGVHD that received a transplant. This finding implies that overrepresentation of CD4(EM) cells is a unique feature of cGVHD.
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Related Subject Headings
- T-Lymphocyte Subsets
- Receptors, Chemokine
- Receptors, CCR7
- L-Selectin
- Immunophenotyping
- Immunology
- Immunologic Memory
- Humans
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
- Graft vs Host Disease
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- T-Lymphocyte Subsets
- Receptors, Chemokine
- Receptors, CCR7
- L-Selectin
- Immunophenotyping
- Immunology
- Immunologic Memory
- Humans
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
- Graft vs Host Disease