Long-term allogeneic hematopoietic cells transplantation survivors proinflammatory cytokine profile compared to their respective donors and immunophenotype differences depending on GvHD history and infection status

Abstract

Background In the course of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) the donor’s hematopoietic progenitor cells are exposed to immense proliferative stress to reconstitute in the recipient the functional hematopoiesis. Moreover, recipients who develop infections or chronic GvHD are subjected to further proliferative stress, especially in the lymphocyte subset. We hypothesized that allo-HCT may induce changes in proinflammatory cytokines profile and immunophenotype in the allo-HCT recipients, especially in patients with cGVHD history. We compared the cytokine profile (Il-6, Il-10, and TNF-) between long-term allo-HCT recipients and their respective donors and we analyzed cytokines profile and the immunophenotype of lymphocytes in long-term recipients grouped according to the infection and GvHD history. Results We have found no differences in the proinflammatory cytokines between allo-HCT recipients and their respective donors, as well as between recipients grouped according to infectious risk status. Immunophenotyping of recipients grouped according to GvHD status revealed an increased percentage of B-cell presenting PD-1 in recipients without a history of GvHD. Conclusions Lack of differences in proinflammatory cytokines concentrations between recipients and donors of allo-HCT would suggest that allo-HCT does not induce acceleration of the inflammageing-resembling phenomenon. No differences in the cytokine profile and immunophenotype between recipients grouped according to infectious risk status suggest that infectious risk is not reflected by the immunophenotype and cytokine profile. Furthermore, the lack of significant differences in immunophenotype of the recipients grouped according to the history of GvHD may suggest that in long-term survivors the immune system tends to stabilize with time.