What is graft vs. host disease?

What is graft vs. host disease?

• A. When the graft attacks the host, recognizing host cells as foreign.
• B. When the host attacks the graft.
• C. An infection caused by immunosuppressive therapy.
• D. An acute rejection that is reversible.

Answer: (A)

Graft-versus-host disease arises when donor immune cells from an allogeneic graft attack the recipient’s tissues, treating the host as foreign. This happens most often after allogeneic bone marrow or stem cell transplants when donor T cells encounter host antigens that differ from their own, leading to immune-mediated damage in organs like the skin, liver, and gastrointestinal tract. It’s not an infection or a host’s immune response against the graft; it’s the graft itself causing the harm. Acute or chronic GVHD can occur, depending on timing and organ involvement, and prevention relies on immunosuppressive strategies. The described option matches this scenario: the graft attacking the host while recognizing host cells as foreign.

Graft-versus-host disease arises when donor immune cells from an allogeneic graft attack the recipient’s tissues, treating the host as foreign. This happens most often after allogeneic bone marrow or stem cell transplants when donor T cells encounter host antigens that differ from their own, leading to immune-mediated damage in organs like the skin, liver, and gastrointestinal tract. It’s not an infection or a host’s immune response against the graft; it’s the graft itself causing the harm. Acute or chronic GVHD can occur, depending on timing and organ involvement, and prevention relies on immunosuppressive strategies. The described option matches this scenario: the graft attacking the host while recognizing host cells as foreign.