Prevention of graft rejection in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. II. Preclinical studies with three radiation protocols

Three radiotherapeutic regimens were compared in vitro to determine their immunosuppressive potential against non-MHC-restricted cytotoxic cells. Assays of natural killer and lymphokine-activated killer function, and cytotoxicity against allogeneic cells were used to quantitate the cytotoxic potential of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy individuals following irradiation with a single dose of 1000 cGy on day 0, 1320 cGy of fractionated radiation (165 cGy b.i.d. x 4 days), or "split-dose" irradiation consisting of 1000 cGy on day 0 followed 5 or 7 days later by 500 cGy. Both irradiated and nonirradiated (control) PBMC cultures were maintained in culture with medium containing interleukin-2, immunophenotyped, and assayed for cytotoxicity from 1 to 8 days after irradiation. Single dose and fractionated-dose irradiation resulted in a progressive decline in cytotoxic capacity, with an 80% inhibition of both NK and LAK cell activity 8 days after onset of irradiation. The split dose of 500 cGy administered 7 days after a dose of 1000 cGy was found to be the most effective in eliminating NK (93% inhibition) and LAK (100% inhibition) cytotoxicity. These data indicate that split-dose irradiation may result in greater immuno-suppression than single-dose or fractionated irradiation.