| 1. |
- Cromvik, Julia, 1980, et al.
(author)
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Eosinophils in the blood of hematopoietic stem cell transplanted patients are activated and have different molecular marker profiles in acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease.
- 2014
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In: Immunity, inflammation and disease. - : Wiley. - 2050-4527. ; 2:2, s. 99-113
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- While increased numbers of eosinophils may be detected in patients with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, it is not known if eosinophils play a role in GVHD. The aims of this study were to determine: whether eosinophils are activated during GVHD; whether the patterns of activation are similar in acute and chronic GVHD; and the ways in which systemic corticosteroids affect eosinophils. Transplanted patients (n = 35) were investigated for eosinophil numbers and the expression levels of 16 eosinophilic cell surface markers using flow cytometry; all the eosinophil data were analyzed by the multivariate method OPLS-DA. Different patterns of molecule expression were observed on the eosinophils from patients with acute, chronic, and no GVHD, respectively. The molecules that provided the best discrimination between acute and chronic GVHD were: the activation marker CD9; adhesion molecules CD11c and CD18; chemokine receptor CCR3; and prostaglandin receptor CRTH2. Patients with acute or chronic GVHD who received systemic corticosteroid treatment showed down-regulation of the cell surface markers on their eosinophils, whereas corticosteroid treatment had no effect on the eosinophil phenotype in the patients without GVHD. In summary, eosinophils are activated in GVHD, display different activation profiles in acute and chronic GVHD, and are highly responsive to systemic corticosteroids.
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| 2. |
- Einarsdottir, Sigrun, et al.
(author)
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Long-Term Immunity Against Tetanus and Diphtheria after Vaccination of Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation Recipients
- 2023
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In: Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. - : Elsevier BV. - 2666-6375 .- 2666-6367. ; 29:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Revaccination against tetanus and diphtheria after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) is usually effective, but the duration of the immunity is unknown. We conducted this study to evaluate humoral immunity to tetanus and diphtheria in long-term survivors and to provide knowledge regarding the need for boosters. The median time from HCT to blood sampling was 14 years (range, 8 to 40 years). All patients had received at least 3 doses of vaccines against both tetanus and diphtheria, either monovalent or combination vaccines containing a full dose of the diphtheria toxoid component. In addition, 1 or more booster doses were administered to 21 of the 146 patients (14%). On enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, levels <.1 IU/mL for diphtheria and <.01 IU/mL for tetanus were considered low or seronegative. Values between .01 and .5 IU/mL for tetanus and between .1 and 1.0 IU/mL for diphtheria were considered to represent partial protection, and levels >.5 and >1.0 IU/mL were considered high and protective, respectively. In all, 39% of patients were seronegative against diphtheria, 52% had some protection, and 9% had a high titer. In contrast, no patient had become seronegative to tetanus, 32% had "partial protection" against tetanus and 68% had a high titer. In multivariate analysis, active graft-versus-host-disease, sex, or time from sampling did not affect the probability of becoming seronegative or seropositive. Younger age was associated with lower antibody levels to tetanus toxoid, but age was not correlated with antibody levels against diphtheria toxoid. Tetanus immunity was maintained after vaccination in most longterm survivors, but immunity against diphtheria was poor, and boosters should be considered. (c) 2023 The American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Vaht, Krista, 1973
(author)
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Aplastic anemia - a population-based study of epidemiology, treatment, and prognostic factors
- 2020
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Background and aims. Aplastic anemia (AA) is a rare but life-threatening disease. The introduction of immunosuppressive treatment (IST) and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has considerably improved the outcome of patients with AA. However, modern-day population-based data are limited. This thesis aimed to retrospectively analyze the incidence, treatment modalities, survival, and immune markers in the bone marrow of patients diagnosed with AA in Sweden from 2000–2011. Patients and methods. Patients were included via the National Patient Registry and diagnosed according to the Camitta criteria. All data were collected from medical charts. In paper IV, immunohistochemistry was used to obtain data on regulatory T cells and macrophages in the bone marrow. Results and conclusions. We identified 257 confirmed cases, with an overall incidence of 2.35 cases per million inhabitants per year. The 5-year overall survival (OS) was >90% in patients aged up to 39 years but 38.1% in patients aged ≥60 years. Multivariate analysis showed that age ≥40 years, very severe AA, and no specific therapy were independent risk factors for inferior survival. First-line IST treated patients (n=158) showed a 47% response rate with no difference regarding the age groups or anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) formulation. The response was significantly associated with the severity grade at the time of treatment initiation, and very severe AA patients exhibited a response rate of 22%. Sixty-eight patients underwent HSCT with a 5-year OS of 86.8%. The graft-versus-host-disease-free, relapse/rejection-free survival at 5 years was 69.1%. Patients aged ≥40 years had higher transplant-related mortality that translated into a lower 5-year OS. In paper IV, we found lower numbers of FOXP3-positive regulatory T cells in AA patients without predictive value for IST response and that patients with a higher number of CD163-positive macrophages had a better 5-year OS, but this benefit was only observed in the non-severe AA group. In conclusion, younger patients have very good long-term survival regardless of the choice of therapy, whereas the outcome for patients ≥60 years remains poor. Very severe AA patients respond poorly to ATG, which indicates the need for a different treatment approach.
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| 5. |
- Vaht, Krista, 1973, et al.
(author)
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Bone marrow expression of CD68/CD163 macrophages, IL-17 and FOXP3 cells in aplastic anemia and their relation to prognosis
- 2023
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In: European Journal of Haematology. - : Wiley. - 0902-4441 .- 1600-0609. ; 110:3, s. 313-321
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives: The primary mechanism for bone marrow failure in aplastic anemia (AA) is autoimmune hematopoietic stem cell destruction. AA can be cured with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) treatment, and some smaller studies have indicated that the number of regulatory T cells (Tregs) may be predictive of response. Additionally, AA patients appear to have elevated numbers of Th17 cells and bone marrow macrophages, but outcome data are missing. Methods: We performed immunohistochemistry on bone marrow biopsies from 121 ATG-treated AA patients and 14 healthy controls, using antibodies against FOXP3 (for Tregs), IL-17 (for Th17), CD68 (for pan-macrophages) and CD163 (for M2 type macrophages) to study their possible relation to ATG response and AA prognosis. Results: AA patients had significantly fewer Tregs and Th17 cells but significantly more macrophages compared with controls. Treg, Th17 and pan-macrophage cell numbers were not associated with ATG response or differences in survival. Patients with higher levels of M2 macrophages had improved 5-year overall survival: 79.6% versus 57.4% (p = .017), and this benefit was primarily seen in AA patients with non-severe disease. Conclusions: We found that Treg and Th17 cell numbers did not predict ATG response or survival, whereas M2 macrophages may be associated with improved survival.
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| 6. |
- Vaht, Krista, 1973, et al.
(author)
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High Graft-versus-Host Disease-Free, Relapse/Rejection-Free Survival and Similar Outcome of Related and Unrelated Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation for Aplastic Anemia : A Nationwide Swedish Cohort Study
- 2019
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In: Biology of blood and marrow transplantation. - : Elsevier. - 1083-8791 .- 1523-6536. ; 25:10, s. 1970-1974
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) as primary treatment for aplastic anemia (AA) is being increasingly used. Yet, age, stem cell source, and donor type are important outcome factors. We have recently performed a nationwide cohort study of all patients with AA in Sweden diagnosed from 2000 to 2011 and now present outcome data on SCT patients. In total, 68 patients underwent SCT, and 63% of them had failed immunosuppressive therapy. We found that, with a median follow-up of 109 months (range, 35 to 192 months), 5-year overall survival (OS) for all patients was 86.8%, whereas graft-versus-host disease-free, relapse/rejection-free survival (GRFS) at 5 years was 69.1%. There was no survival impact regarding the donor type or stem cell source. Patients aged >= 40 years had a higher transplant-related mortality (29.4% versus 7.8%; P= .023), which translated into a lower 5-year OS: 70.6% versus 92.2% (A=.022) and a trend of lower GRFS (52.9% versus 74.5%; P = .069). In conclusion, we found in this real-world setting that both OS and GRFS were high, but SCT for patients with AA aged >= 40 years is problematic, and clinical trials addressing this issue are warranted. (C) 2019 American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy.
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| 7. |
- Vaht, Krista, 1973, et al.
(author)
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Incidence and outcome of acquired aplastic anemia: real-world data from patients diagnosed in Sweden from 2000-2011
- 2017
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In: Haematologica. - Pavia, Italy : Ferrata Storti Foundation (Haematologica). - 0390-6078 .- 1592-8721. ; 102:10, s. 1683-1690
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A plastic anemia is a rare life-threatening disease. However, since the introduction of immunosuppressive therapy and allogeneic stem cell transplantation, the outcome has improved considerably, and the 5-year survival is reported to be 70-80% in selected patient cohorts. Yet, contemporary population-based data on incidence and survival are lacking. We performed a national retrospective study to determine the incidence, treatment, and survival of patients with aplastic anemia diagnosed in Sweden from 2000-2011. Patients were included via the National Patient Registry, and diagnosed according to the Camitta criteria. In total, 257 confirmed cases were identified, with an overall incidence of 2.35 (95% CI: 2.06-2.64) cases per million inhabitants per year. Median age was 60 years (range: 2-92), and median follow up was 76 (0-193) months. Primary treatments included immunosuppressive therapy (63%), allogenic stem cell transplantation (10%), or single-agent cyclosporine/no specific therapy (27%). The 5-year survival was 90.7% in patients aged 0-18 years, 90.5% in patients aged 19-39 years, 70.7% in patients aged 40-59 years, and 38.1% in patients aged >= 60 years. Multivariate analysis showed that age (both 40-59 and >= 60 age groups), very severe aplastic anemia and single-agent cyclosporine/no specific therapy were independent risk factors for inferior survival. In conclusion, younger aplastic anemia patients experience a very good long-term survival, while that of patients >= 60 years in particular remains poor. Apparently, the challenge today is to improve the management of older aplastic anemia patients, and prospective studies to address this medical need are warranted.
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| 8. |
- Vaht, Krista, 1973, et al.
(author)
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Low response rate to ATG-based immunosuppressive therapy in very severe aplastic anaemia : A Swedish nationwide cohort study
- 2018
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In: European Journal of Haematology. - : Munksgaard Forlag. - 0902-4441 .- 1600-0609. ; 100:6, s. 613-620
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives: Antithymocyte globulin (ATG)-based immunosuppression remains a cornerstone in aplastic anaemia (AA) treatment. However, most ATG studies are not population-based and knowledge about real-world results concerning response and outcome could offer important information for treating physicians.Methods: We have recently performed a nationwide retrospective cohort study on all AA patients diagnosed in Sweden in 2000–2011 and now present treatment and outcome data on patients receiving first-line ATG. In total, 158 patients showed a 47.0% response rate which was similar in all age groups (range 41.5%-51.7%) with no difference regarding ATG formulation. The response was significantly associated with severity grade—especially at time of treatment initiation: very severe (VSAA) 22.7%; severe (SAA) 54.5% (P <.001); and non-severe 88.5% (P <.001). A logistic regression-based predictive model indicated that VSAA patients with an absolute reticulocyte count <25 × 109/L had only a 19% probability of response. In a multivariable analysis, age and VSAA at the time of treatment were the independent factors for inferior survival.Conclusions: Real-world VSAA patients respond poorly to ATG which indicates the need for a different treatment approach. Our findings suggest that age alone should not be a discriminating factor for administering ATG treatment.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Wennström, Lovisa, et al.
(author)
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The Incidence and Survival of Acute de novo Leukemias in Estonia and in a Well-Defined Region of Western Sweden during 1997-2001: A Survey of Patients Aged 16-64 Years.
- 2011
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In: Acta haematologica. - : S. Karger AG. - 1421-9662 .- 0001-5792. ; 126:3, s. 176-85
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: In a recent retrospective study, we investigated the incidence and survival of de novo acute leukemia (AL) patients aged 16-64 years over three 5-year periods (1982-1996) in Estonia and in the Western Swedish Health Care Region. The incidence rates were similar in the two countries, but the survival data were highly different. Thus, relative survival at 5 years for de novo AL patients in Estonia was virtually negligible, whereas the corresponding figures for the Swedish patients increased from 20.3 to 38.9% during the study period. Aim: To prospectively compare the results for incidence and outcome of de novo AL between the two countries during 1997-2001. Results: Incidence rates for de novo AL were lower in Estonia than in western Sweden but not significantly so. However, the survival for de novo AL patients in Estonia had improved considerably, with the relative survival at 5 years being 16.4%; such improvement was particularly seen in acute myeloid leukemia patients. For the Swedish patients, no change in survival was recorded. Conclusion: In Estonia, a remarkable improvement in outcome for young de novo AL patients was seen after 1996. Nevertheless, relative survival for the Estonian patients had still not reached the levels found in the Swedish cohort.
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