High Number of Memory T Cells Is Associated with Higher Risk of Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation

•We performed immunotyping of 210 bone marrow and peripheral blood grafts.•We analyzed effect of T cell subsets on the onset of acute graft-versus-host disease.•High count of effector memory T cells correlated with a higher incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease.

The pathophysiology of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) remains poorly understood in humans. Although T cell subsets have been identified to play a major role in disease initiation in rodents, clinical data on the effect of these different subsets are scarce and conflicting. To address this question, immunophenotyping analyses were performed on the graft in 210 patients. The onset of acute GVHD was retrospectively correlated with these subpopulations. In an adjusted analysis, only the absolute count of CD45lo/CD62Llo CD8+ T cells (effector memory T cells) was significantly associated with the onset of grade 2 to 4 acute GVHD. Thus, in contrast to experimental data, we found that the number of effector memory but not of naïve T cells was associated with the onset of GVHD. These results should be kept in mind while clinical trials, which aim to deplete naïve T cells, are underway in several institutions.