Improved Methods of Cell Selection for Bone Marrow Transplant Alternatives

Use of Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) Mobilized Leukapheresis Collections From Healthy Volunteers to Develop Improved Methods of Stem Cell and Lymphocyte Selection for Allogeneic Transplantation

Bone marrow transplants (BMT) are one form of treatment for disorders of the blood, including leukemia. However, because the procedure is often associated with potentially life-threatening reactions, it is usually reserved for patients with serious illnesses under the age of 60 years old.

One serious reaction complicating bone marrow transplants is referred to as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). GVHD is a potentially fatal incompatibility reaction. The reaction is caused by antigens found on the cells of the patient that are not present on the cells of the donor. The antigens are recognized by transplanted white blood cells (lymphocytes). These lymphocytes begin attacking the recipient s cells and tissues and may lead to death.

In order to avoid GVHD, researchers have developed a technique using peripheral blood instead of bone marrow that allows transplantation of stem cells and removal of lymphocytes. Stem cells are the cells responsible for returning blood cell production to normal. Lymphocytes are the white blood cells that can cause GVHD.

The technique requires two steps. In the first step blood cells are collected from donors who have received doses of a growth factor. The growth factor (granulocyte colony stimulating factor) is designed to increase the production of donor stem cells.

In the second step white blood cell lymphocytes are removed from the collected blood, leaving only the stem cells.

The main goal of this study is to develop and improve the method of processing cells that are collected after stimulation with growth factor (G-CSF), by removing the white blood cell lymphocytes which can cause graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) while keeping the stem cells necessary for healthy blood cell building. In addition, researchers are interested in studying whether giving G-CSF has an effect on lymphocyte function, which may influence the immune reactions occurring in bone marrow transplantation.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Graft-Versus-Host Disease; Graft-versus-leukemia; Donor Apheresis
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: G-CSF

Detailed Description

The NHLBI Stem Cell Transplantation program is exploring ways to make allogeneic transplantation safer and more widely applicable. Prior NHLBI transplant protocols have evaluated the strategy of using T cell depleted marrow transplants followed by delayed lymphocyte add-back to control or prevent GVHD while conserving useful donor immune function against residual leukemia and infectious agents. Over the past ten years, a number of increasingly efficient methods have been used to deplete T cells but retain stem cells, and we have shown the safety and utility of the delayed T cell add-back approach. We have also found a positive relationship between the administration of higher CD34+ cell doses and outcome. Investigation of highly purified grafts with the add-back of specific T cell populations is ongoing, and the ability to test new purification approaches and devices on clinical-scale PBSC products is critical to the continued development of new transplantation approaches in our program. This requires testing the approaches on G-CSF mobilized PBSCs collected by apheresis from healthy donors since this is the cell source that will be used in all clinical allogeneic transplantation protocols in our program.

Therefore, the primary intent of this protocol is to provide a mechanism for mobilizing, collecting, storing, and analyzing G-CSF mobilized apheresis samples from healthy volunteers. Cells will be used to develop a method of processing the cells that are collected after stimulation with G-CSF, by removing the lymphocytes, which can mediate GVHD while retaining the stem cells which are necessary for hematopoietic reconstitution. At the same time, we will study whether G-CSF administration has an effect on lymphocyte, function which may influence the immune reactions occurring in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Furthermore, the CD34+ cells collected will be a valuable resource for experimental studies of lymphocyte-stem cell interactions in our laboratory.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 500

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Andre Larochelle, M.D.; Phone Number: (301) 451-7139; Email: larochea@nhlbi.nih.gov
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Richard A Gustafson, R.N.; Phone Number: (301) 402-5822; Email: richard.gustafson@nih.gov

Study Locations

• United States
  • Maryland
    • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
      • Recruiting
      • National Institutes of Health Clinical Center
      • Contact: For more information at the NIH Clinical Center contact Office of Patient Recruitment (OPR); Phone Number: TTY dial 711 800-411-1222; Email: ccopr@nih.gov

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy Volunteers

Description

• INCLUSION CRITERIA:
• Healthy individual aged 18 to 60 years.
• No active infection or history of recurrent infection.
• Normal renal function: creatinine <1.5 mg/dL or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >=60 mL/min/1.73 m^2, with no significant proteinuria.

Normal liver function: bilirubin <2.0 mg/dL (when unconjugated), transaminases <2.0x ULN in the absence of known liver disease.

Normal blood count: WBC 2,500-11,000/microliter, ANC >1,500/microliter, platelets >150,000/microliter, hemoglobin >12.0 g/dL.

• Normal cardiovascular function, no history of chest pain, myocardial infarction, peripheral vascular disease, transient ischemic attack, or stroke.
• Healthy female subjects of childbearing age should have a negative serum pregnancy test with one week of beginning G-CSF administration.
• Female subjects should not be lactating.
• Subject must be eligible for normal blood donation. He or she must be tested negative for syphilis (RPR), hepatitis B and C (HBsAg, Anti-HBc, Anti-HCV), HIV, HTLV-1, West Nile virus, T. Cruzi and Babesia test.
• Subject must be able to comprehend the investigational nature of the study and provide informed consent to participate in the protocol.
• Antecubital veins must be adequate for peripheral access during apheresis. Potential participants must be screened by an apheresis nurse to check venous access before protocol entry.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

• Active viral, bacterial, fungal or parasite infection.
• Female with positive pregnancy test or lactating.
• Active or moderate-to-severe autoimmune disease that is currently treated or expected to require immunosuppressive therapy. Candidates with stable, well-controlled mild autoimmune disease may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Active or recent malignancy within the past 5 years. Individuals with remote (>5 years) histories of low-risk malignancies in remission (e.g., localized prostate cancer) or treated basal cell carcinoma may be included.
• History of any hematologic disorders.
• History of clinically significant cardiovascular disease (e.g., symptomatic coronary artery disease, uncontrolled hypertension). Minor risk factors must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis (e.g., controlled hypertension).
• Any positive serum screening test as listed in eligibility.
• Allergy to G-CSF or bacterial E coli products.
• Administration of NSAID within. 5-7 days of starting the protocol, depending on drug half-life.
• History of G-CSF administration and leukapheresis within past 3 months.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Only
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Group 1; Healthy volunteers	Drug: G-CSF; After medical clearance, volunteers will undergo outpatient mobilization with daily subcutaneous injections of filgrastim (G-CSF). The first dose will be administered at the NIH Clinical Center, with one-hour monitoring for immediate reactions. Volunteers may either return to NIH for daily injections or self-administer at home after training.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Provide a source of primitive hematopoietic cells from mobilized blood for laboratory studies including optimization of culture and expansion, preservation techniques, gene transfer, analysis of cell surface antigens, & analysis of migra...	End of Study

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Use the cells to develop a reliable technique for T cell depletion of peripheral blood stem cell transplants, which conserves sufficient CD34 cells for safe engraftment while minimizing the risk of GVHD.
Study the effect of G-CSF on lymphocyte subsets and helper cytotoxic function.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
• Collaborators: New York Genome Center
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Andre Larochelle, M.D., National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Goldman J. Peripheral blood stem cells for allografting. Blood. 1995 Mar 15;85(6):1413-5. No abstract available.
• Grigg AP, Roberts AW, Raunow H, Houghton S, Layton JE, Boyd AW, McGrath KM, Maher D. Optimizing dose and scheduling of filgrastim (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) for mobilization and collection of peripheral blood progenitor cells in normal volunteers. Blood. 1995 Dec 15;86(12):4437-45.
• Cottler-Fox M, Cipolone K, Yu M, Berenson R, O'Shaughnessy J, Dunbar C. Positive selection of CD34+ hematopoietic cells using an immunoaffinity column results in T cell-depletion equivalent to elutriation. Exp Hematol. 1995 Apr;23(4):320-2.

Helpful Links

• NIH Clinical Center Detailed Web Page

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 18, 1996

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 3, 1999
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 3, 1999
• First Posted (Estimated): November 4, 1999

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 5, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 4, 2026
• Last Verified: March 6, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Natural History; Graft Versus Host Disease; Normal Volunteer; G-CSF; Donor Apheresis; graft versus leukemia
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Immune System Diseases; Graft vs Host Disease; Peptides; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins; Proteins; Biological Factors; Carbohydrates; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Glycoproteins; Glycoconjugates; Colony-Stimulating Factors; Hematopoietic Cell Growth Factors; Cytokines; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor
• Other Study ID Numbers: 960049; 96-H-0049

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No