Immunomodulation of autoimmunity in MRL/lpr mice with syngeneic bone marrow transplantation (SBMT)

MRL-lpr/lpr mice spontaneously develop a severe autoimmune syndrome, characterized by massive generalized lymphadenopathy, arthritis, arteritis, dermatitis and immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis. Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from MHC-matched systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-resistant donors to susceptible recipients has proved effective in correcting autoimmune manifestations in autoimmune-prone mice. We investigated the effect of syngeneic BMT from MRL/lpr (donor) to immunocompromised MRL/lpr (recipient), after purging the bone marrow inoculum with MoAbs against mature T cells (anti-Thy 1.2). All the untreated mice developed lymphadenopathy and by the age of 36 weeks five of the eight were dead; in contrast, all the mice which underwent syngeneic BMT following acute immunosuppression with total body irradiation (900 cGy) (TBI) remained disease-free. In an additional experiment, it was found that conditioning with cyclophosphamide (CY) before BMT was more effective than TBI in inhibiting delayed-onset autoimmune manifestations (mean survival 350 days in the CY group and 305 days in the TBI group, versus 197 days in untreated controls). Under both immunosuppressive regimens T cell-depleted bone marrow grafts produced far better results than did unmanipulated BMT. Following syngeneic BMT the incidence of proteinuria and the level of serum anti-DNA (dd) antibodies were significantly reduced, compared with that of the age-matched untreated controls. CY was more effective than TBI in reducing the anti-DNA titres. Likewise, T depletion of bone marrow inocula before BMT induced a more drastic drop in autoantibodies, following both CY and TBI conditioning protocols. After syngeneic BMT (either CY or TBI) no signs of lymphadenopathy were observed even at an advanced age. Upon histopathological examination, the BMT-treated mice displayed normal glomeruli with occasional minimal signs of glomerulonephritis. Syngeneic T cell-depleted BMT following acute cytoreduction of anti-self immune lymphocytes may represent a new therapeutic approach for drug-resistant autoimmune diseases.