Premium
Levels of soluble FasL and FasL gene expression during the development of graft‐versus‐host disease in DLT‐treated patients
Author(s) -
Das Hiranmoy,
Imoto Shion,
Murayama Tohru,
Kajimoto Kazuyoshi,
Sugimoto Takeshi,
Isobe Takashi,
Nakagawa Toshitaro,
Nishimura Ryuichiro,
Koizumi Tamio
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2141.1999.01246.x
Subject(s) - fas ligand , medicine , immunology , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , graft versus host disease , gene expression , bilirubin , transplantation , gastroenterology , gene , apoptosis , biology , programmed cell death , biochemistry , in vitro
Three patients with different clinical symptoms of graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) who had received donor lymphocyte transfusion (DLT) for the treatment of relapsed leukaemia after an allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from HLA‐matched sibling donors were analysed for the presence of soluble FasL (sFasL) in the sera and for the expression of the Fas ligand (FasL) gene in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC). Two patients who demonstrated liver damage with increased levels of serum bilirubin showed significantly increased levels of serum sFasL. The increase in the sFasL level was observed prior to the increase in the bilirubin during the clinical courses of both patients. The high dose of methyl predonisolone administered to one of these patients greatly reduced the levels of sFasL in the serum. The bilirubin levels were also reduced thereafter. The third patient (without liver damage) did not show any increase in the serum sFasL level. The expression of the FasL gene in the PBMNC of these three patients was examined. All three patients showed increased levels of the FasL gene expression during their clinical courses. However, only one patient showed a parallel alteration of FasL gene expression with sFasL in the serum. These cases provide evidence that the Fas/FasL system is closely associated with human GVHD, especially in the development of liver GVHD.