The expression of CD30 is restricted to cells of the immune system and strictly regulated under physiological conditions. However, active immune cells express CD30 and soluble CD30 (sCD30) is released. Several investigators reported the relevance for sCD30 as a predictive marker for allograft rejection following organ transplantation. We investigated the role of sCD30 in 30 patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for hematologic malignancies. sCD30 was measured at different time points until day 120 post transplant. There was a great variety of sCD30 at baseline before transplantation. At time of engraftment, patients who developed no or only mild signs of acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGvHD) until day 120 had significant lower levels of sCD30 than patients who developed severe aGvHD. Moreover, all patients with aGvHD degrees III/IV showed a clear increase in sCD30 levels before clinical signs of aGvHD. Levels of sCD30 decreased if patients responded to aGvHD-therapy. We suggest a potential role of sCD30 serum levels in prediction of aGvHD following allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
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