Prevention of Murine Sclerodermatous Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease by Rapamycin

    February 2013 in “ Biology of blood and marrow transplantation ”
    Ludovic Belle, Marilène Binsfeld, Sophie Dubois, Muriel Hannon, Jo Caers, Alexandra Briquet, Catherine Menten, Yves Béguin, Stephanie Humblet, Frédéric Baron
    TLDR Rapamycin increased survival in mice with severe chronic graft-versus-host disease by expanding regulatory T cells.
    The study developed a severe murine model of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD) to better assess therapeutic interventions. In this model, all mice experienced significant weight loss, hair loss, and skin fibrosis, with a median survival of 32 days. Rapamycin treatment significantly improved survival, with 6 out of 8 mice surviving beyond 52 days compared to none in the placebo group. Rapamycin-treated mice also showed higher numbers of regulatory T cells and various subsets of CD4+ T cells, suggesting that rapamycin may prevent cGvHD by promoting the expansion of regulatory T cells.
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