Clinical Research Directory

Using T-Cell Alloreactivity and Chimerism to Guide Immunosuppression Minimization in Intestinal Transplantation

The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety and feasibility of giving intestinal transplant patients CD34+ stem cells (the cells that make all the types of blood cells) obtained from their organ donor's bone marrow. The goal of this is to develop a post-transplant treatment strategy that controls rejection while reducing the high risk of infection and malignant disease associated with the high levels of immunosuppression medication(s) that intestinal and multi-organ transplant patients must take. Infusion of bone marrow cells from the same donor of the transplanted organ(s) could promote a state called "mixed chimerism" in which both donor cells and recipient cells coexist in the body with the ultimate goal of minimizing the amount of immunosuppression medication(s) needed.