Related Experiment Videos
The effects of gamma irradiation versus white cell reduction on the mixed lymphocyte reaction
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
The risk of transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD) is related to the number of viable T cells transfused. Whether white cell (WBC)-reduced blood components would carry a decreased risk of TA-GVHD was considered, and the allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction was used as an in vitro model for TA-GVHD. An exponential decline in the mixed lymphocyte reaction was found to occur, as a result of either an arithmetic increase in the dose of gamma irradiation given to responding cells or a logarithmic decrease in the number of unirradiated responding cells. Irradiation of responding cells with 600 cGy or a 0.6 log10 reduction in the number of responding cells produced a 95-percent decline in the mixed lymphocyte reaction. Although these studies do not validate the use of WBC reduction as a substitute for gamma irradiation for the prevention of TA-GVHD, they suggest that the relative risk of TA-GVHD resulting from the use of standard cellular components versus WBC-reduced components merits further investigation.
The risk of transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD) is related to the number of viable T cells transfused. Whether white cell (WBC)-reduced blood components would carry a decreased risk of TA-GVHD was considered, and the allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction was used as an in vitro model for TA-GVHD. An exponential decline in the mixed lymphocyte reaction was found to occur, as a result of either an arithmetic increase in the dose of gamma irradiation given to responding cells or a logarithmic decrease in the number of unirradiated responding cells. Irradiation of responding cells with 600 cGy or a 0.6 log10 reduction in the number of responding cells produced a 95-percent decline in the mixed lymphocyte reaction. Although these studies do not validate the use of WBC reduction as a substitute for gamma irradiation for the prevention of TA-GVHD, they suggest that the relative risk of TA-GVHD resulting from the use of standard cellular components versus WBC-reduced components merits further investigation.