Enhanced activation of B cells in a granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-mobilized peripheral blood stem cell graft

In a randomized study that compared human leucocyte antigen-identical allogeneic granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mobilized peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) versus bone marrow (BM) transplantation, the expression of activation markers, CD23, CD25 and CD45RO by B cells, was compared in blood before and after G-CSF mobilization and in PBSC versus BM grafts. The fractions of CD23+ and CD25+ B cells were higher in PBSC than in BM grafts. Moreover, we observed a G-CSF-induced increase in B-cell fractions in blood as well as in PBSC grafts when compared with BM grafts. Such an enhanced B-cell activation could contribute to the accelerated kinetics of immuno-haematological reconstitution, the occurrence of acute haemolysis in the ABO minor incompatibility setting, as well as the increased incidence of chronic graft-versus-host disease observed after PBSC transplantation.