Immune reconstitution after high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation plays a key role in restoring immunocompetence including defense against infection, immune regulation, and onco-immune surveillance. In this work, we examined the recovery of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, recently discovered innate-like T cells, after various types of myeloablative chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in 29 patients. We show that MAIT cells are relatively resistant to myeloablative conditioning. The median amount of MAIT cells rises to 43 % around day +30 and is sustained through further measurements on days +60 and +100. Moreover, MAIT cell recovery reaches 100 % of pre-treatment values in 33 % of patients already by day +60. The only factor affecting recovery of MAIT cells is age, younger age being associated with earlier MAIT cell recovery. The pre-treatment quantity of MAIT cells carries a prognostic impact on the early post-transplantation course. Patients with high levels of MAIT cells pre-treatment have significantly lower peak CRP levels (79.45 vs. 150 mg/L) post-treatment, reflecting a clinical trend of less severe infectious complications (less febrile days and less days on intravenous antibiotics). Altogether these data suggest that a high proportion of MAIT cells survive myeloablative chemotherapy and maintain their capacity to fight against infections probably on mucosal surfaces.

Department of Immunology 3rd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Prague Czech Republic

Department of Internal Medicine and Haematology 3rd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague and Faculty Hospital Kralovske Vinohrady Srobarova 50 100 34 Prague 10 Czech Republic

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High pre-transplant Mucosal Associated Invariant T Cell (MAIT) count predicts favorable course of myeloid aplasia