Allogeneic HY antibodies detected 3 months after female-to-male HCT predict chronic GVHD and nonrelapse mortality in humans

H Nakasone, L Tian, B Sahaf, T Kawase… - Blood, The Journal …, 2015 - ashpublications.org
H Nakasone, L Tian, B Sahaf, T Kawase, K Schoenrock, S Perloff, CE Ryan, J Paul, R Popli…
Blood, The Journal of the American Society of Hematology, 2015ashpublications.org
Allogeneic antibodies against minor histocompatibility antigens encoded on the Y
chromosome (HY-Abs) develop after hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) of male recipients
with female donors (F→ M). However, the temporal association between HY-Ab
development and chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) has yet to be elucidated. We
studied 136 adult F→ M HCT patients, with plasma prospectively collected through 3 years
posttransplant, and measured immunoglobulin G against 6 HY antigens. Multiple HY-Abs …
Abstract
Allogeneic antibodies against minor histocompatibility antigens encoded on the Y chromosome (HY-Abs) develop after hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) of male recipients with female donors (F→M). However, the temporal association between HY-Ab development and chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) has yet to be elucidated. We studied 136 adult F→M HCT patients, with plasma prospectively collected through 3 years posttransplant, and measured immunoglobulin G against 6 H-Y antigens. Multiple HY-Abs were frequently detected beginning at 3 months posttransplant: 78 (57%) of F→M patients were seropositive for at least 1 of the 6 HY-Abs, and 3-month seropositivity for each HY-Ab was associated with a persistent seropositive response throughout the posttransplant follow-up period (P < .001 in each). There were no associations between pretransplant features and 3-month overall HY-Ab development. Detection of multiple HY-Abs at 3 months (represented by HY score) was significantly associated with an increased risk of cGVHD (P < .0001) and nonrelapse mortality (P < .01). Compared to clinical factors alone, the addition of HY score to clinical factors improved the predictive potential of cGVHD (P < .01). Monitoring HY-Ab development thus stratifies cGVHD risk in F→M HCT patients and may support preemptive prophylaxis therapy for cGVHD beginning at 3 months posttransplant.
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