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T Kozlowski1, T Sablinski1,5, M Basker1, H Kitamura2, TR Spitzer3, J Fishman4, M Sykes1, DKC Cooper1 & DH Sachs1
1Transplantation Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
3Department of Medicine, (Hematology/Oncology Unit), Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
4Department of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Correspondence to: Dr DH Sachs, Transplantation Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, MGH-East, Building 149-9019, 13th Street, Boston, MA 02129, USA
5Current address: Novartis, East Hanover, NJ, USA
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Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is an important complication of bone marrow transplantation after transplants between HLA-mismatched donor/recipient pairs. In mice, giving IL-2 post transplant decreases GVHD in this setting. We studied high-dose IL-2 therapy in pigs. Transplants were carried out after conditioning with fractionated total body radiation and cyclophosphamide. Fourteen pigs received a fully mismatched bone marrow transplant (six with IL-2; eight without IL-2), and six received a single haplotype class II mismatched transplant (three with IL-2; three without IL-2). GVHD was evaluated by skin histology. All fully mismatched recipients had severe GVHD (grade 2–3) and died within 13 to 51 days whether or not they received IL-2. Pigs receiving a one haplotype class II mismatched transplant without IL-2 developed severe skin GVHD lasting for 8–45 days; all died within 57 days. Similar pigs receiving IL-2 post transplant had no or only mild skin GVHD for less than 15 days; two are long-term survivors. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2000) 25, 47–52.
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