CYTOKINE-ENHANCED MIXED LYMPHOCYTE-REACTION (MLR) IN CORD-BLOOD

Although in cord blood (CB) transplantation graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is reported to be less severe, GVHD may occur even in patients with HLA-identical sibling donors. This result shows that HLA typing c an not entirely predict GVHD. The standard MLR with CB cells was eithe r normal or slightly reduced compared with adult peripheral blood (PB) cells. We used two manipulations to increase the responses of CB cell s to allo-antigens. The first was to treat the stimulator cells with c ytokines, and the second to amplify weak proliferative responses by ad ding exogenous cytokines to MLR cultures (modified MLR). The stimulato r cells were treated with both interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and IL-4. The responder cells were treated with both IL-2 and tumour necrosis fa ctor-alpha (TNF-alpha). It is still to be determined whether or not th is cytokine-enhanced MLR could be a possible predictor of GVHD. Howeve r, using these cytokines, 90% of CB could recognize allo-antigens, eve n if the standard MLR was negative.