Chronic GVHD: B cells come of age.

The pathophysiology of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in humans remains poorly understood. While donor T cells play a major role, B cells have emerged in the past few years as significant actors too. In this issue of Blood , 2 papers add important advances to our knowledge of how B-cell subsets are implicated in the protean forms of the disease and how these subsets are affected by treatment with Rituximab.

[1]  W. Pickl,et al.  Significant differences in B-cell subpopulations characterize patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease-associated dysgammaglobulinemia. , 2011, Blood.

[2]  J. Ritz,et al.  Recovery of B-cell homeostasis after rituximab in chronic graft-versus-host disease. , 2011, Blood.

[3]  David Kipling,et al.  High-throughput immunoglobulin repertoire analysis distinguishes between human IgM memory and switched memory B-cell populations. , 2010, Blood.

[4]  M. Robin,et al.  Long-term immune deficiency after allogeneic stem cell transplantation: B-cell deficiency is associated with late infections , 2010, Haematologica.

[5]  R. Storb,et al.  The role of B cells in the pathogenesis of graft-versus-host disease. , 2009, Blood.

[6]  J. Ritz,et al.  Altered B-cell homeostasis and excess BAFF in human chronic graft-versus-host disease. , 2009, Blood.

[7]  M. Kouba,et al.  Elevated numbers of immature/transitional CD21- B lymphocytes and deficiency of memory CD27+ B cells identify patients with active chronic graft-versus-host disease. , 2008, Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

[8]  J. Ritz,et al.  Rituximab for steroid-refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease. , 2006, Blood.

[9]  J. Mary,et al.  Prolonged immune deficiency following allogeneic stem cell transplantation: risk factors and complications in adult patients , 2001, British journal of haematology.

[10]  D. Maloney,et al.  Primary Mantle Cell Lymphoma Cell Cultures Soluble Cd40 Ligand Induces Selective Proliferation of Lymphoma Cells In , 2022 .

[11]  A. Glas,et al.  B-cell–autonomous somatic mutation deficit following bone marrow transplant , 2000 .