Lymphocytes after autologous and allogenic bone marrow transplantation

Lymphocyte reconstitution after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was analyzed using two-color flow-cytometry in 18 patients and the differences between allogenic and autologous BMT were studied. The CD8 (+) CD11b (+) and CD8 (+) Leu7 (+) suppressor subsets were increased while the CD4 (+) 2H4 (+) suppressor inducer subset was decreased in both groups after BMT. These variations of suppressor associated subsets persisted for more than 100 days and were considered to be related to immunologic abnormalities in post-BMT patients. In addition, Ia (+) T cells were increased in both autologous and allogenic BMT patients. This increase appears not to be caused by reaction to allo-antigens, but rather reflects the reconstitution of the lymphocyte system after BMT. In contrast, the CD16 (+) NK cell subset was increased specifically in allogenic BMT patients and only for a short time following transplantation.