Treatment of autoimmune diseases in mice by a new method for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

Ther Apher Dial. 2003 Jun;7(3):292-7. doi: 10.1046/j.1526-0968.2003.00060.x.

Abstract

Remarkable advances have been made in bone marrow transplantation (BMT), which has become a powerful strategy for the treatment of leukemia, aplastic anemia, congenital immunodeficiency, and also autoimmune disease. Using various animal models, allogeneic (allo) BMT has been found to be useful in the treatment of various autoimmune diseases. In MRL/lpr mice, which are radiosensitive (<8.5 Gy) and are an animal model for autoimmune diseases, conventional BMT resulted in only transient effects; the manifestations of the autoimmune diseases recurred 3 months after BMT. Using MRL/lpr mice, we have very recently established a new strategy for allo BMT. We injected bone marrow cells (BMC) directly into the bone marrow cavity (intrabone marrow [IBM] injection) of recipients that had received fractionated irradiation. This 'IBM-BMT' was found to be effective in treating autoimmune diseases in radiation-sensitive and chimeric-resistant MRL/lpr mice. In addition, this strategy was found to be applicable for the transplantation of organs. We believe that these strategies for BMT and organ transplantation herald a new era in transplantation.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Autoimmune Diseases / mortality
  • Autoimmune Diseases / pathology*
  • Autoimmune Diseases / therapy*
  • Biopsy, Needle
  • Bone Marrow Transplantation / adverse effects
  • Bone Marrow Transplantation / methods*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / adverse effects
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / methods
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred MRL lpr
  • Mice, Inbred NZB
  • Risk Assessment
  • Species Specificity
  • Survival Rate
  • Transplantation, Homologous
  • Treatment Outcome