Research progress on pathology and pathogenesis of chronic ocular graft-versus-host disease

Abstract

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(allo-HSCT)is a treatment for many malignant tumors of blood system and severe immunodeficiency, and chronic graft-versus-host disease(cGVHD)is one of the major complications after transplantation, which seriously affects the life quality of patients. The cGVHD can attack all the target tissues of the eye. The more common ones are lacrimal gland, eyelid, conjunctiva, cornea and limbus, meibomian gland, etc. The pathophysiological process is inflammation and fibrosis. Although many researchers at home and abroad have gradually begun to explore the disease and obtained many new findings, its pathology and pathogenesis are still not fully understood, and there is no unified and effective treatment. Clinically, the treatment of the disease is usually when symptoms have appeared. At this time, the target tissue is likely to have irreversible and permanent damage, resulting in a protracted and refractory situation. Therefore, this thesis mainly clarifies the research progress of the pathology and pathogenesis of ocular cGVHD in recent years, in order to provide new guidance for the treatment of the disease.

Keywords

• ocular graft-versus-host disease
• hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
• fibrosis
• pathogenesis