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Serum albumin and C-reactive protein as significant predictors of non-relapse mortality in lower gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease

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Abstract

Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) of the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the major cause of non-relapse mortality (NRM) in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT). This study aimed to identify variables associated with corticosteroid response and NRM in patients who developed lower GI aGVHD. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of patients treated at Yonsei University Severance Hospital between 2008 and 2017. Among 244 recipients of alloHSCT, 48 (19.7%) were diagnosed as lower GI aGVHD at a median of 22 days after alloHSCT. In these cases, 20 (41.6%) patients were resistant to corticosteroid therapy. Corticosteroid resistance was associated with advanced stage of lower GI aGVHD (P = 0.019), low serum albumin (P = 0.006), and elevated CRP (P = 0.030) on day 7 after corticosteroid therapy. NRM rate was significantly higher in the corticosteroid-resistant group compared with the sensitive group (HR 5.339, P = 0.003). Multivariate analysis revealed serum albumin (P = 0.046), and CRP levels (P = 0.032) were independent prognostic factors for NRM. When the patients were classified into 3 groups according to Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), the rate of corticosteroid resistance was significantly higher in the high GPS group compared with the intermediate or low GPS group (83.3 vs. 27.2 and 15.3%, respectively, P < 0.001). We demonstrated that low serum albumin and elevated CRP level on day 7 after corticosteroid therapy are objective biomarkers of corticosteroid resistance and a significant predictor for higher NRM. These simple and practical parameters could be valuable information predicting response and prognosis in lower GI aGVHD.

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Authors

Contributions

CJW was the principal investigator and takes primary responsibility for the paper. MYH, CJW, KJS, KSJ, and JJE recruited patients to the study. CH and JJE participated in the statistical analyses. CH drafted the manuscript.

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Correspondence to June-Won Cheong.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the institutional review board of Severance Hospital (4–2010-0669). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. All subjects provided written informed consent, and all patient samples were coded and linked anonymously

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Chung, H., Jang, J.E., Kim, SJ. et al. Serum albumin and C-reactive protein as significant predictors of non-relapse mortality in lower gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease. Ann Hematol 99, 1111–1119 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-020-04015-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-020-04015-4

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