Another message for you this afternoon. Hope it provides you with some
benefit information should you decide on BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant).
This method has proven very successful for many diseases and has come
along way in terms of research and treatment.
God Bless
marty auslander
Mouse Studies Achieve Dramatic Drop in Graft-Versus-Host Disease
Following
Bone Marrow Transplant
BOSTON--(BW HealthWire)--June 30, 1998--In experiments with mice,
researchers
at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital have used a
naturally
occurring protein to thwart one of the most common -- and potentially
lethal
-- complications associated with bone marrow transplants.
In a study published in the July 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical
Investigation, the researchers report that mice given interleukin-11
(IL-11)
after receiving an allogeneic, or non-self, bone marrow transplant were
protected from the effects of graft-versus-host disease, an often
debilitating
condition that can follow marrow transplants. The protection enabled the
mice
to outlive other mice that had received bone marrow transplants but were
not
given IL-11.
"This research shows that it may be possible to significantly reduce the
complications experienced by patients receiving bone marrow
transplants," says
the study's senior author, James Ferrara, M.D., of Dana-Farber and
Children's
Hospital. "IL-11 may also hold promise for the treatment of other
immune-
related problems such as autoimmune diseases and organ transplant
rejection."
Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which results from an imperfect
"match"
between donated bone marrow and recipients' own tissue, affects more
than half
of all bone marrow transplant recipients. When T cells inside the
donated
marrow recognize the host tissue as foreign, they mount an immunological
assault against it. The result of this "Trojan horse" attack can be
severe
damage to organs such as the skin, liver and intestines. Ninety percent
of
severe GVHD cases are fatal.
Although drugs that suppress the immune system such as steroids and
cyclosporin can alleviate the problem, GVHD remains the major cause of
disease
and death, either directly or indirectly, in patients receiving
allogeneic
bone marrow transplants.
In the current study, lead author Geoffrey Hill, M.D., and his
colleagues
administered IL-11 for a short period to mice that had received
allogeneic
bone marrow transplants. IL-11 was chosen because it suppresses proteins
called cytokines that can cause tissue inflammation, and because it
protects
the gastrointestinal tract from damage by radiation that is used in
preparation for the transplant.
The results of the study were striking: the long-term survival rate of
the
mice receiving IL-11 was 90 percent. For mice that had received bone
marrow
transplants but were not given IL-11, the rate was 10 percent. In
addition,
IL-11 provided long-term protection of the organs that usually are
targeted by
GVHD.
Researchers identified three ways that IL-11 acts to blunt the effects
of
GVHD: by reducing the production of inflammatory cytokines, by
protecting the
intestines and other organs, and by altering the responsiveness of T
cells
from the donated marrow.
Another encouraging sign was that IL-11 didn't seem to produce any
adverse
side effects in the mice, but, Ferrara cautioned, the study was not
geared
specifically to detect such side effects. He noted that IL-11 is
currently
given to cancer patients after chemotherapy to increase their number of
blood
platelets, and that it generally produces only minor side effects.
The success of the experiments in mice has prompted Ferrara and his
colleagues
to design a clinical trial to test IL-11 in patients receiving bone
marrow
transplants. He expects the trials to begin toward the end of this year.
CONTACT: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Todd Ringler, 617/632-5357
------------------------------
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