Colon biopsies for evaluation of acute graft-versus-host disease (A-GVHD) in allogeneic bone marrow transplant patients

Abstract

Abstract Background Proper histomorphological interpretation of intestinal acute graft versus host disease (A-GVHD) associated with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is critical for clinical managaement. However, studies methodically evaluating different histomorphological features of A-GVHD are rare. Methods Colonic biopsies from 44 allogeneic BMT patients having biopsy-proven cutaneous A-GVHD were compared with colon biopsies from 48 negative controls. Results A-GVHD showed intra-cryptal apoptosis in 91% and pericryptal apoptosis in adjacent lamina propria in 70% (p Conclusions Intracyptal apoptosis is a reliable indicator of A-GVHD. Its diagnostic significance was improved if intracyptal apoptosis was associated with features which were observed more frequently in A-GVHD group as mentioned above.

Keywords

• Acute graft-versus-host disease
• colon biopsy
• bone marrow transplant
• apoptosis
• CMV
• NSAIDs
• GVHD