HEMATOPOIETIC STEM-CELL TRANSPLANTATION FOR AUTOIMMUNE-DISEASES

Autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, and rheumatoid arthritis cause significant morbidity and mortality. A lthough aggressive treatments may suppress disease activity in some ca ses, there are few if any complete cures. Since these conditions arise as a direct result of dysregulation of the immune system, modificatio n of immune stem cells may be important in their control. Some slow ac ting antirheumatic drugs have significant effect on bone marrow, and m ore recently a number of case reports have appeared in which autoimmun e diseases have gone into remission after bone marrow transplantation for other reasons. Data from animal models of autoimmune disease show significant abrogation of inflammation following bone marrow transplan tation. Advances in the technology of stem cell transplantation couple d with increasing ability to identify at an early stage those patients likely to develop severe autoimmune disease require an indepth study of the role of stem cell transplantation for these conditions.