TRBV kinetics and its association with HLA disparity and a GVHD following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Summary Introduction The relative expression of T cell receptor ( TCR ) beta variable ( TRBV ) and TCR diversity was compared between recipients receiving human leukocyte antigen ( HLA )‐mismatched transplants and those receiving HLA ‐matched transplants, using granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor ( G‐CSF )‐mobilized peripheral blood stem cells and bone marrow as grafts. Methods The kinetics of the relative expression of TRBV family members were analyzed using real‐time quantitative PCR . Additionally, the association of TRBV clonotype with acute graft‐versus‐host disease (a GVHD ) was determined by cloning and sequence analysis of the CDR 3 region. Results The TCR diversity in recipients receiving HLA ‐mismatched transplants was significantly lower than in those receiving HLA ‐matched transplants at 1 month and 2 months after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation ( HSCT ) (both P  <   0.05). However, these differences disappeared 3 months after transplantation. The relative expression of TRBV 27 ( n  = 7 recipients) at the onset of a GVHD was higher than in corresponding donors ( P  =   0.025), but no significant differences were observed between recipients lacking a GVHD and their donors at serial time points after HSCT . Conclusion Our results suggest that HLA disparity may affect the relative expression of TRBV in the early phase after transplantation, and TRBV 27 may be associated with the onset of a GVHD .