Is There A Risk In Allogeneic Pbpc Donation For Autoimmune Diseases Due To Short-Term Treatment With Rhg-Csf? Preliminary Results Of A Prospective Study In 100 Unrelated Stem Cell Donors.

Short-term administration of rhG-CSF is a safe and effective procedure for mobilization of allogeneic PBPC in healthy related and unrelated donors. Mild to moderate bone pain is the main side effect occurring in about 80 % of donors, whereas major complications are extremely rare. Recently we observed a patient, who developed life-threatening autoimmune hyperthyreoidism two weeks after rhG-CSF stimulated unrelated PBPC donation (Kroschinsky et al., Haematologica 2004). Anecdotal reports in the literature describe thyroid dysfunction in cancer patients who received rhG-CSF or rhGM-CSF to enhance neutrophil recovery after chemotherapy. In patients with autoimmune disorders who had been treated with rhG-CSG for secondary neutropenia a flare up of disease specific symptoms was observed. Although the current evidence is poor, there might be a potential role of rhG-CSF in thyroid dysfunction and autoimmunity due to its pleotropic effects on different types of cellular and humoral immune effectors.