AA #2

Blood Test Developed for Deadly Transplant Complication


Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a deadly complication among bone marrow transplant patients. This is similar to the body rejecting an organ donation. Scientists are finding blood sample tests to diagnose and extent of this disease in patients. What causes the disease? An immune cell in the donated bone marrow identifies the patient’s cells as a foreign invader and launches an immune attack. This attack most commonly results in a visible skin rash. The immune response can progress and damage internal organs (30% to 40% of the cases prove to be fatal.)

In response, clinicians begin treatment with high doses of steroids. Steroids can suppress the body’s immune response. This strategy can be dangerous and deadly. It raises the risk of infection and can potentially cause a relapse in cancer patients. Scientists found a potential blood sample test. Elafin is an anti-inflammatory protein that is produced by the body in response to skin GVHD. The protein is in relatively high amounts in GVHD victims. James Ferrara, a coauthor of study at the University of Michigan, and his team took weekly blood samples from patients who received bone marrow transplants. The team compared the levels of elafin in 10 patients who have developed GVHD and 20 patients who didn’t. On average, the elafin level in patients who developed skin GVHD were three times higher than those who didn’t develop GVHD. Next, 159 patients with the disease were separated into two groups; those with higher elafin and those who have lower than average, and followed each groups long term survival. After 12 months, three times as many patients died in the high-elafin group from GVHD and its complications than in the low-elafin group. If elafin levels rise before GVHD symptoms develop, it might be possible to identify patients at risk.



 T. Wogan, “Blood Test Developed for Deadly Transplant Complication, “ Science, 1/5/2010. http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/01/06-04.html, [2/15/10]