Abstract
Monoclonal antibodies are increasingly used for treatment of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) in bone marrow transplantation. We treated seven patients with steroid resistant aGVHD with the monoclonal anti-T cell antibody OKT3. Though five patients showed improvement of aGVHD, only two became long-term survivors. OKT3 treatment was accompanied by deterioration of microangiopathy and prolonged increase of tumor-necrosis-factor alpha serum levels indicating activation of monocytes/macrophages in vivo, as this was not observed in a control group of patients receiving anti-T cell globulin. These findings may be related to immunostimulatory activity reported for OKT3 in vitro. Strategies interfering with cytokine release should improve clinical results of OKT3 treatment.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 93-98 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Bone Marrow Transplantation |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 2 |
State | Published - 1991 |
Externally published | Yes |