Everolimus in Combination with Mycophenolate Mofetil as Pre- and Post-Transplantation Immunosuppression after Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Canine Littermates

The mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor everolimus (RAD001) is a successfully used immunosuppressant in solid-organ transplantation. Several studies have already used RAD001 in combination with calcineurin inhibitors after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We investigated calcineurin inhibitor–free pre- and post-transplantation immunosuppression of RAD001 combined with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in a nonmyeloablative HSCT setting. After nonmyeloablative conditioning with 2 Gy total body irradiation, 8 dogs received HSCT from dog leukocyte antigen–identical siblings. Immunosuppressives were given at doses of 1.5 mg RAD001 twice daily from day −1 to +49, then tapered until day +56, and 20 mg/kg MMF from day 0 to +28, then tapered until day +42. An historical cyclosporin A (CsA)/MMF regimen was used in the control group. All dogs engrafted. Median platelet nadir amounted in all dogs to 0 × 109/L (median, day +10; duration <50 × 109/L, 22 days) and median leukocyte nadir was 1.0 × 109/L (range, .1 to 2.5 × 109/L; median, day +13). Eventually, 5 of 8 (63%) animals rejected their grafts. Two dogs died of infections on day +19 and +25. Pharmacokinetics of RAD001 and MMF showed median trough levels of 19.1 (range, 10.5 to 43.2) μg/L and .3 (.1 to 1.3) mg/L, respectively. The median area under the curve was 325 (range, 178 to 593) μg/L × hour for RAD001 and 29.6 (range, 7.9 to 40.5) ng/L × hour for MMF. All dogs developed clinically mucosal viral infections during the clinical course. Compared with the control group, the level of toxicities for RAD001/MMF increased in all qualities. Combined immunosuppression of RAD001 and MMF after nonmyeloablative HSCT is associated with significant toxicities, including a prolonged platelet recovery time as well as increased infections compared to the CsA/MMF regimen.