Author/Authors :
Momeni-Varposhti, Zahra Hematology and Oncology Research Center - Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran , Kazemi, Mohammad Hossein Department of Immunology - Student Research Committee - School of Medicine - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Talebi, Mehdi Department of Applied Cell Sciences - School of Advance Medical Sciences - Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran , Chegeni, Rouzbeh The Michener Institute of Education - University Health Network, Toronto, Canada , Roshandel, Elham Hematopoietic Stem Cell Research Center - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Hajifathali, Abbas Hematopoietic Stem Cell Research Center - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Movassaghpour, Ali Akbar Hematology and Oncology Research Center - Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract :
Background: Acute graft-versus-host disease is a major complication in allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.
Epinephrine and norepinephrine are stress hormones which affect many cells, including immune cells through interaction with adrenergic
receptors, mainly β2-adrenergic receptor. The immunomodulatory effects of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and signaling of the adrenergic
receptor have been shown to decrease the probability of the acute graft-versus-host disease in animal models. The aim of our study was
to investigate the possible correlations between the serum levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine and also leukocytic expression levels
of β2-adrenergic receptor with the incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stemcell transplantation.
Methods: In this study, the plasma levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine and the leukocytic expression of β2-adrenergic receptor
gene were measured and compared in allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation patients with and without acute graft-versushost disease. Data were analyzed and illustrated using SPSS 19 and GraphPad Prism 6. The student T-test, Pearson, and Spearman’s
tests were performed and p<0.05 was considered as significant.
Results: We showed that the plasma levels of norepinephrine and the relative amount of the mRNA of β2-adrenergic receptor at 7 and
21 days after allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation were significantly lower in patients with acute graft-versus-host disease
than recipients without acute graft-versus-host disease. There were also negative correlations between the plasma levels of
norepinephrine, leukocytic levels of the mRNA of β2-adrenergic receptor, and the incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that stress hormones and their receptor might have a role in preventing acute graft-versus-host disease
and could be promising factors in controlling the outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.
Keywords :
Norepinephrine , Epinephrine , β2-adrenergic receptor , Acute graft-versus-host disease
