Cytomegalovirus-Specific T Cell Immunotherapy Promotes Restoration of Durable Functional Antiviral Immunity following Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation

• Published in: Clinical infectious diseases Vol. 49; no. 12; pp. 1851 - 1860
• Main Authors: Peggs, Karl S., Verfuerth, Stephanie, Pizzey, Arnold, Chow, Shoon-Ling C., Thomson, Kirsty, Mackinnon, Stephen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford The University of Chicago Press 15.12.2009; University of Chicago Press; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Adoptive Transfer; Adult; Aged; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents; Antigens; Antiviral agents; Antiviral drugs; Antivirals; ARTICLES AND COMMENTARIES; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Bone marrow, stem cells transplantation. Graft versus host reaction; Cell Line; Cell lines; Cytomegalovirus; Cytomegalovirus - immunology; Cytomegalovirus Infections - prevention & control; DNA, Viral - blood; Female; Graft vs host disease; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation - adverse effects; Herpesviridae; Human cytomegalovirus; Humans; Immunity; Immunotherapy; Infections; Infectious diseases; Lymphocytes; Male; Medical sciences; Medical treatment; Middle Aged; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; T cell receptors; T lymphocytes; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Toxicity; Transfusions. Complications. Transfusion reactions. Cell and gene therapy; Transplantation; Transplantation, Homologous; Transplants & implants; Viral diseases; Herpesviridae; Stem cell transplantation; Betaherpesvirinae; Immunity; Human cytomegalovirus; Infection; Virus; Treatment; Immunological investigation; Immunotherapy; Viral disease; T-Lymphocyte; Antiviral
• ISSN: 1058-4838; 1537-6591
• DOI: 10.1086/648422

Background.The profound immunodeficiency associated with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is permissive to uncontrolled replication of latent human herpesviridae such as cytomegalovirus. Morbidity and mortality associated with viral dissemination or its treatment are significant. Although adoptive cellular therapy with virus-specific T cells offers the potential for accelerating pathogen-specific immune reconstitution, the risk of induction of graft-versus-host disease and the logistics of production of clonal T cell populations restrict application. Methods.We investigated the ability of cytomegalovirus-specific mixed CD4+and CD8+T cell lines, generated by short-term ex vivo culture of donor lymphocytes with donor monocyte-derived dendritic cells pulsed with virus lysate, to restore antiviral immunity in 30 allogeneic transplant recipients at high risk of both uncontrolled viral replication and of graft-versus-host disease. Results.There were no immediate toxicities and no excess of graft-versus-host disease. Massive in vivo expansions of cytomegalovirus-specific T lymphocytes occurred, temporally associating with periods of viral replication, suggesting that antigen exposure was necessary for optimal cytomegalovirus-specific immune reconstitution. The expanding populations maintained functional competence in ex vivo re-stimulation assays, promoting reconstitution of durable functional cytomegalovirus-specific immunity and effectively preventing recurrent viral infection and late cytomegalovirus disease. Conclusions.These data confirm the ability of cellular immunotherapy to hasten reconstitution of antiviral immunity following allogeneic transplantation, indicating that significant clinical benefits may be conferred in terms of reduction of secondary viral infection episodes, potentially reducing exposure to the toxicities of antiviral drugs.