The contribution of haemopoietic cell chimaerism to the pathogenesis o
f GVHD after BMT is unclear. This report raises the possibility that d
onor lymphocyte-recipient macrophage chimaerism may occur shortly afte
r allogeneic marrow engraftment and hence might contribute to the deve
lopment of GVHD. Immunohistological studies of intestinal mucosa in an
allogeneic BMT patient, who did not engraft, revealed an almost compl
ete absence of lymphocytes 30 days after transplant, but preservation
of mucosal macrophage numbers. Subsequently, combined immunohistology-
Y chromosome in situ hybridization studies were performed in two femal
e BMT recipients of male donor marrow. These studies revealed that bet
ween 25 and 40% of macrophages and between 25 and 40% of T lymphocytes
were of donor origin during the first 6 months after transplant. In c
onclusion, whilst the immunohistological studies of intestinal mucosa
from a patient who failed to engraft suggest that donor lymphocyte-rec
ipient macrophage ('split') chimaerism may occur shortly after marrow
engraftment, the subsequent in situ hybridization studies revealed 'mi
xed' chimaerism in the two sex-mismatched BMT recipients.