Immunological reconstitution following bone marrow transplantation

Abstract

The recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplants are characterized by an immunodeficiency of varying severity and duration. Their immunoincompetence is due in part to: 1) a lack of sustained transfer of donor immunity, 2) a recapitulation of lymphoid ontogeny, 3) the effects of graft-versus-host disease and its therapy, and 4) a reduction in thymic function. Recipients can have delays in the production of naive T lymphocytes following transplantation which result in defects in the production of new antigen-specific T lymphocytes and an inability to produce antibodies, especially to carbohydrate antigens.