Premium
A Thymic Hormone Protects Mice from Enteropathy during Acute Graft‐ versus ‐Host Disease
Author(s) -
InagakiOhara Kyoko,
Sakai Tetsu,
Koya Goyo,
Awaya Akira,
Yoshikai Yasunobu
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1997.tb01945.x
Subject(s) - enteropathy , intraepithelial lymphocyte , immunology , graft versus host disease , cd8 , biology , transplantation , hormone , disease , medicine , endocrinology , immune system
We have previously reported that a nonapeptide thymic hormone, facteur thymique serique (FTS), is involved in the differentiation and activation of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (i‐IEL) in mice. In this study, we examined the effect of FTS treatment on enteropathy in a murine model for acute graft‐ vs. ‐host disease (GVHD) induced by injection of parental C57BL/6 splenocytes into unirradiated (C57BL/6XDBA/2) F 1 hybrids. FTS treatment significantly protected mice from developing acute GVHD as assessed by mortality rate, splenomegaly and enteropathy. The infiltration of donor‐derived TCRαβ i‐IEL bearing CD8αβ was significantly inhibited in the small intestine of FTS‐treated mice, and the frequencies of apoptosis of crypt cells in the intestinal mucosa were decreased in these mice during acute GVHD. These results suggest that FTS treatment contributes to protection against enteropathy of acute GVHD. Thus, FTS may provide a useful approach to control acute GVHD after blood transfusion or bone marrow transplantation.