Rabbit antithymocyte globulin induces rapid expansion of effector memory CD8 T cells without accelerating acute graft versus host disease

Friedrich Wittenbecher; Kathrin Rieger; Mikalai Dziubianau; Anne Herholz; Angela Mensen; Igor Wolfgang Blau; Lutz Uharek; Bernd Dörken; Andreas Thiel; Il-Kang Na

doi:10.1016/j.lrr.2013.09.001

Rabbit antithymocyte globulin induces rapid expansion of effector memory CD8 T cells without accelerating acute graft versus host disease

Leuk Res Rep. 2013 Sep 27;2(2):82-5. doi: 10.1016/j.lrr.2013.09.001. eCollection 2013.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Charité, Berlin, Germany.
² Renal and Transplant Research Unit, Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), Charité CVK, Berlin, Germany.
³ Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Infectiology and Rheumatology, Charité, Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Institute of Medical Immunology, Charité CVK, Berlin, Germany.
⁵ Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Charité, Berlin, Germany ; Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), Berlin, Germany.
⁶ Regenerative Immunology and Aging, Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), Charité CVK, Berlin, Germany.
⁷ Department of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Charité, Berlin, Germany ; Institute of Medical Immunology, Charité CVK, Berlin, Germany ; Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

Rabbit antithymocyte globulin (Thymoglobulin(®)) is commonly used as graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) prophylaxis. Since we found similar total CD8 T cell numbers in patients with and without Thymoglobulin(®) therapy within the first six months after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, we have analyzed the reconstitution of the CD8 T cell compartment in detail. After T cell-depletion, higher and more sustained proliferative capacity of memory CD8 T cells resulted in their rapid expansion, whereas the fraction of naive CD8 T cells decreased. Importantly, this shift towards effector memory CD8 T cells did not accelerate the incidence of GvHD.

Keywords: CD8 T cell; HSCT; antithymocyte globulin; effector memory; naive.