Peripheral dendritic cell chimerism in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell recipients.

Background: Relapse and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) represent major causes of morbidity and mortality following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Although leukocyte and T-cell chimerism analyses are performed routinely suggesting a predictive value on the patients outcome, little is known about chimerism of dendritic cells (DC) representing strong initiators of immune responses.

Methods: In this prospective study, peripheral DC1 (CD11c+) and DC2 (CD123+) chimerism was determined in hematopoetic stem cell recipients.