Modulation of allogeneic immune responses by filgrastim (recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) in...

We examined whether the use of G-CSF would affect the outcome of allogeneic marrow transplantation in humans and mice. Retrospective analysis of 24 patients who had received allogeneic marrow grafts from HLA-identical siblings revealed that the incidence of chronic but not acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was lower in the patients receiving G-CSF than in those not given G-CSF (18% vs. 80%, P = 0.02). There was a difference in serum TNF-alpha levels during the first 3 months after transplant between these two groups. Four out of the ten patients who were not given G-CSF showed elevated serum TNF-alpha levels, whereas there was only one patients with an increased TNF-alpha level among eleven patients who were given G-CSF. With the use of murine acute and chronic GVHD models, we also observed that administration of G-CSF improved the survival of minor GVHD, but not major GVHD, mice. Taken together, these findings suggest that G-CSF down-regulates allogeneic immune responses and is active in modulating alloreactivity in vivo.