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J Storek

Publications and source records attributed to J Storek.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Infectious morbidity in long-term survivors of allogeneic marrow transplantation is associated with low CD4 T cell counts.

Survivors of allogeneic marrow transplants are immunodeficient for at least 1 year after grafting. Multiple defects of immunity have been found; however, it is not known which defect primarily accounts for the high infectious morbidity of these patients. Twenty-nine allograft recipients who were in complete remission of the original disease were examined for the following parameters of immunity at 1 year after transplant: infection score (gauging the number and severity of infections within the 6 months prior to the annual exam), serum total IgM, IgG, and IgA, anti-Haemophilus influenzae IgG, anti-Streptococcus pneumoniae IgG, skin test reactivity, and the blood counts of B cells, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and their subsets. THe only parameter inversely correlated with the infection score was CD4+ T cell count (P = 0.005 in univariable analysis, P = 0.06 in multivariable analysis). We conclude that infectious morbidity of long-term transplant survivors is related to the reconstitution of CD4+ T cells.

Adolescent↗

Liver dysfunction in the early post-bone marrow transplant period.

In the paper hepatic dysfunctions occurring in more than 80% recipients of HLA-matched bone marrow transplants (BMT) in the early post-transplant period (< 100 days) is described. They involve veno-occlusive disease (VOD) and acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). Liver dysfunctions can be also caused by unfavourable effects of drugs and by infections. Etiopathogenesis, clinical and laboratory findings, diagnosis, therapy and prophylaxis of the dysfunctions in question is being described in detail.

Acute Disease↗

Lack of B cells precursors in marrow transplant recipients with chronic graft-versus-host disease.

B cell reconstitution after bone marrow transplantation is slow in patients with chronic graft-vs.-host disease (cGVHD). Could this be secondary to decreased production of B cells in the bone marrow? We determined the relative amount of B cell precursors in the marrow of 26 patients at approximately 1 year after marrow transplant (10 patients with and 16 patients without clinical cGVHD) and 8 normal adult controls. In the controls (median), 3.1% of all marrow mononuclear cells were B cell precursors. The patients without cGVHD tended to have higher than normal percents of B cell precursors (median 6.5%; the difference from normal adults was not significant). In contrast, the patients with cGVHD had barely detectable B cell precursors (median 0.2%; the difference from normal adults was significant, P = 0.004). Therefore, delayed reconstitution of 8 cells in patients with cGVHD appears to be due at least in part to decreased B cell production by the marrow.

Antigens, CD34↗

A controlled trial of long-term administration of intravenous immunoglobulin to prevent late infection and chronic graft-vs.-host disease after marrow transplantation: clinical outcome and effect on subsequent immune recovery.

To determine whether intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) given monthly from day 90 to day 360 posttransplantation decreased the incidence of late infection, chronic graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD), and obliterative bronchiolitis after marrow transplantation, patients were assigned randomly to receive either IVIg (500 mg/kg/month) or no IVIg prophylaxis. Participants were registered before transplantation, and 250 patients (123 IVIg and 127 control) were evaluable for events after day 100. The two groups were balanced for age, marrow source, cytomegalovirus (CMV) seropositivity, pretransplantation conditioning, and prophylaxis for infection and GVHD. Between days 100 and 365 posttransplantation, the incidence of bacteremia or septicemia per 100 patient-days of risk was 0.10 in the IVIg group and 0.12 in the controls (p = not significant). During the same period, the incidence of localized infection was marginally higher in control patients than in IVIg recipients (0.44 vs. 0.24, respectively; relative risk [RR] 1.46, p < 0.07). Administration of IVIg prophylaxis had no effect on survival, the incidence of obliterative bronchiolitis, severity of airflow obstruction, or the incidence or mortality of chronic GVHD. After discontinuing IVIg prophylaxis at day 360, subsequent recovery of endogeneous humoral immunity was impaired (serum IgG1 and IgA levels were significantly lower than controls at day 730), and total infections were less common in the second year in control patients than in former IVIg recipients (0.12 vs 0.19, respectively; RR 0.61, p = 0.03). We conclude that in the absence of hypogammaglobulinemia, monthly administration of IVIg given from day 90 to 360 does not reduce late complications and may impair long-term humoral immune recovery after marrow transplantation.

Adolescent↗

Low IgG production by mononuclear cells from marrow transplant survivors and from normal neonates is due to a defect of B cells.

Low IgG production is a characteristic feature of both the immunodeficiency of recipients of bone marrow transplant (BMT) and the physiologic immunodeficiency of newborns. We tried to determine whether this is due to a B cell defect and whether this can be corrected in vitro by IgG production-promoting cytokines CD40 ligand (CD40L) and interleukin 10 (IL-10). Highly purified circulating B cells from patients at 1 year after transplant, normal neonates and normal adults were cultured with and without anti-mu plus CD40L plus IL-10. Proliferation was measured on day 4 and IgM and IgG production were measured on day 9. Proliferation and IgM production of B cells from patients and from neonates were somewhat low (43-67% of normal). In contrast, IgG production by B cells from patients and from neonates was markedly low (< or = 13% of normal). Decreased IgG production correlated with decreased percentage of B cells negative for membrane IgD (mIgD). We conclude that the low IgG production of normal neonates and patients at 1 year after transplant is, at least in part, caused by a defect of circulating B cells and that this defect cannot be corrected by CD40L and IL-10. Quantitative deficiency of switched mIgD-) B cells probably accounts for this defect.

Adult↗

T cell reconstitution after bone marrow transplantation into adult patients does not resemble T cell development in early life.

Immune reconstitution after marrow transplantation has some characteristics of immune development in early life. Here we provide phenotypic data suggesting this may not be true for T cells (particularly CD4+ T cells) in the case of marrow transplantation into adults. T cells from 35 adult patients at 1 year after transplant, 14 normal neonates and 22 normal adults were studied by 3-color flow cytometry. Marked disparity between the phenotype of neonatal vs post-transplant T cells was found. Of the total CD4+ T cells, the neonates had supranormal percentages of CD45RAhigh, L-selectin+, CD29low/-, CD11alow/- and CD28+ cells whereas most patients at 1 year after transplant had subnormal percentages of these CD4+ T cell subpopulations. (sub/supra-normal denotes below/above normal adult values). Absolute blood counts of naive (CD45RAhigh, L-selectin+, CD29low/- and CD11alow/-) CD4+ T cells correlated inversely with patient age. Neonates had also supranormal percentages of CD45RAhigh, L-selectin+, CD29low/-, CD11alow/- and CD28+ CD8+ T cells whereas the patients (particularly those with chronic GVHD) tended to have subnormal percentages of these CD8+ T cell subpopulations. Contrary to the CD4+ T cells, there was no correlation between the absolute counts of CD45RAhigh, L-selectin+, CD29low/- or CD11alow/- CD8+ T cells and patient age. Whereas the vast majority of neonatal T cells were CD38high, most patient and normal adult T cells were CD38- or CD38intermediate (both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells). We conclude that, in contrast to early life, the production of naive CD4+ T cells is deficient in adult (and particularly elderly) transplant recipients.

Adolescent↗

B cell dysfunction after bone marrow transplantation is associated with decreased Ca2+ flux upon membrane Ig crosslinking.

Patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation have a long-lasting defect of B cell-mediated immunity. Both quantitative (decreased blood B cell counts) and qualitative (decreased Ig production) abnormalities of B cells have been described. To better understand the mechanism of the qualitative defect and its potential relation to B cell immaturity, we studied the in vitro responsiveness of B cells to polyclonal stimuli in patients at 2-12 months post-transplant and in normal neonates. Several key steps of the B cell program were deficient in the patients while they were relatively normal in the neonates. These included (i) early activation as assessed by Ca2+ flux; (ii) late activation as assessed by the increase in cell size and upregulation of the activation antigens CD25 and CD71; and (iii) proliferation as assessed by the number of cycling cells after stimulation. We conclude that the functional B cell defect during the early (< 1 year) post-transplant period extends back to the level of early activation and cannot be simply attributed to the relative immaturity of post-transplant B cells.

Adolescent↗

Autoimmune anemia, neutropenia, Eaton-Lambert syndrome, and cerebellar degeneration in a patient with lymphoid hyperplasia.

We report a case of Coombs-positive anemia, neutropenia, Eaton-Lambert syndrome, and cerebellar degeneration with anti-Purkinje cell antibodies. No definitive cause has been established despite an extensive search for a malignancy or a known autoimmune disease. The histology of spleen and lymph nodes showed marked polyclonal B and T cell hyperplasia, noncaseating granulomas, and increased eosinophils. The disease failed to improve after splenectomy and treatment with prednisone and cyclophosphamide; partial response was achieved with azathioprine plus prednisone.

Adult↗

Abundance of a restricted fetal B cell repertoire in marrow transplant recipients.

Patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation are humorally immunodeficient for one or more years post-transplant. This immunodeficiency could be partially caused by B cell repertoire restriction similar to that observed in ontogeny. To test this idea, the abundance of rearranged genomic segments bearing five variable heavy chain (VH) genes was compared in patients at several timepoints post-transplant and in immunologically normal neonates, infants and adults. The genes evaluated in the study (VH6, VH4-58p2, VH3-56p1, VH3-20p1 and VH3-13-2) were selected from those commonly utilized by fetal B cells. The assay employed quantitative PCR and oligonucleotide hybridization detection under conditions designed to detect relatively unmutated forms of these genes. In blood B cells from early post-transplant (2-5 months) patients, these VH genes were markedly overutilized compared with normal adults. B cells from late post-transplant (6-21 months) patients and from normal neonates and infants also overutilized these genes; however, to a lesser degree than early post-transplant B cells. The data suggest that, as in ontogeny, the B cell repertoire is strikingly restricted to fetal-type VH genes early post-transplant, and may become normal only very late (years) post-transplant.

Adult↗

Adult-onset cyclic neutropenia responsive to cyclosporine therapy in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis.

A 45-year-old female with a long history of HLA-B27-positive ankylosing spondylitis and ulcerative colitis developed cyclic neutropenia. She was hospitalized for high fever during each of three consecutive episodes of absolute neutropenia. On the third hospitalization, granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), 5 micrograms/kg/day, was given by subcutaneous injection and resulted in an increase of absolute neutrophil count from 0 to 2.2 x 10(9)/liter and an associated decrease of platelet count and hemoglobin as well as severe bone and joint pain predominantly in the middle and lower back and purulent diarrhea. The back pain necessitated discontinuation of the drug. Oral cyclosporine therapy was begun, and although the neutrophil count continued to oscillate, both the peaks and the nadirs were higher than previously, and symptoms of neutropenia subsided. We conclude that cyclosporine can be an effective treatment for cyclic neutropenia associated with autoimmunity since G-CSF may cause exacerbations of autoimmune disorders.

Blood Cell Count↗

B cell reconstitution after human bone marrow transplantation: recapitulation of ontogeny?

Patients undergoing BMT have a long-lasting defect of B cell-mediated immunity, especially if chronic GVHD ensues. It has been postulated that the post-transplant B cell abnormalities can be explained by the recapitulation of B cell ontogeny. To test this hypothesis, we studied the quantitative and phenotypic reconstitution of circulating B cells in 24 transplant recipients and compared it with normal ontogeny. The results confirm that a second round of ontogeny occurs in transplant recipients without chronic GVHD. This was evidenced by the pattern of quantitative B cell reconstitution (low-->high-->normal B cell counts), large B cell size and a high proportion of B cells overexpressing CD38, membrane IgM (mIgM) and membrane IgD (mIgD). The recapitulation of ontogeny was blunted in most patients with chronic GVHD, as evidenced by the absence of the overshoot of total B cells and by the relative lack of CD38high, mIgMhigh and mIgDhigh B cells. We conclude the post-transplant B cell development in patients without chronic GVHD parallels ontogeny. The limited ability of patients with chronic GVHD to re-enact B cell ontogeny may contribute to their longer-lasting and more severe humoral immunodeficiency.

Adult↗

A novel B cell stimulation/proliferation assay using simultaneous flow cytometric detection of cell surface markers and DNA content.

Assessment of the specific B cell proliferative response by thymidine incorporation following polyclonal stimulation (e.g. with pokeweed mitogen or B cell growth factor) is problematic whenever the proportion of B cells in a particular sample is low as in blood samples. Here we describe a simple assay consisting of identifying the cultured B cells with anti-CD19/CD20 fluorescein-conjugated antibody and simultaneously using propidium iodide DNA staining to determine the percent of S/G2/M phase cells among the gated B cells. This assay can be used to determine B cell responsiveness even in individuals with very low blood B cell counts (e.g., in recipients of bone marrow transplant), does not require laborious B cell purifications and does not involve radiation hazard.

Adult↗

Recovery of mononuclear cell subsets after bone marrow transplantation: overabundance of CD4+CD8+ dual-positive T cells reminiscent of ontogeny.

Patients after bone marrow transplantation are immunodeficient for months to years. To understand better the pathogenesis of this immunodeficiency, we studied quantitative reconstitution of blood monocytes, natural killer (NK) cells, T cells, and B cells at 2-22 months post-transplant. The results indicate monocyte and NK counts generally recover within 2 months, followed by CD4-CD8+ T cell, B cell, and finally (after > 1 year) CD4+CD8- T cell numbers. Dual-positive CD4+CD8+ T cells (which were barely detectable in normal adults), CD4-CD8+ T cells and B cells transiently reached supranormal levels during recovery. Both CD4+CD8- and CD4-CD8+ T cells were larger than controls throughout the 2-year follow up. Comparison with neonatal and infant mononuclear cell subsets suggested the reconstitution of CD4+CD8+ T cells and B cells is similar to ontogeny. In contrast, the reconstitution of CD4+CD8- T cells did not resemble ontogeny.

B-Lymphocytes↗