Isolation and infusion of donor CD34+ bone marrow cells in cadaver kidney transplantation

• Published in: Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation dialysis, transplantation, 1998-01, Vol.13 (1), p.34-36
• Main Authors: De Pauw, Luc, Abramowicz, Daniel, Donckier, Vincent, Kornreich, Anne, Destrée, Martine, Demoor, François, Andrien, Marc, Lambermont, Micheline, Goldman, Michel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Antigens, CD34 - analysis; Biological and medical sciences; bone marrow; Bone marrow, stem cells transplantation. Graft versus host reaction; Cadaver; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; Humans; Kidney Transplantation; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; stem cell; tolerance; Transfusions. Complications. Transfusion reactions. Cell and gene therapy
• ISSN: 0931-0509; 1460-2385
• DOI: 10.1093/ndt/13.1.34

Background. Infusion of donor bone marrow cells induces tolerance in allograft models. CD34+ stem cells present in human bone marrow could be endowed with tolerogenic properties. Methods. CD34+ stem cells were isolated from bone marrow extracted from vertebral bodies of cadaveric donors. Donor CD34+ cells (0.6–3.7 × 106/kg) were infused during surgery in 10 kidney transplant recipients receiving OKT3 as induction therapy. Chimerism was investigated using nested PCR for donor-specific HLA alleles. Results. The infusion of CD34+ stem cells was perfectly tolerated. Five patients remained free of acute rejection at follow-up, 47–325 days post-operatively. The five other patients underwent a single episode of corticosensitive acute rejection. Long-term chimerism was not induced in the seven patients investigated for the persistence of donor DNA. Conclusions. Infusion of donor CD34+ stem cells in kidney transplantation is safe. The clinical usefulness of the procedure remains to be established.