Clinical Significance of Long Noncoding RNA-DC Expression in Acute Graft Versus Host Disease (AGVHD) Development

Acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) is a common complication following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) caused by cellular and inflammatory factors, including those arising from monocytes and dendritic cells as integral parts of the immune system. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) have recently emerged as potential regulators of the immune responses and it is supported that their dysregulation can develop various immune disorders. As an intergenic lncRNA, the lncDC was shown to regulate the human monocytes differentiation and antigen presenting cells (APCs) activation during immune responses. It is also shown that lnc-DC knockdown reduces T-cell activation and cytokine release.

The aim of this study was to assess whether the lnc-DC plays a role in patients with aGVHD by measuring its expression levels compared to non-aGVHD patients on specific time intervals following transplantation.

Participants included 38 patients who underwent primary allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated by Ficoll-Hypaque gradient from the blood samples collected at days 0, 7, 14, 28, and final day of transplantation. The qRT-PCR was used to quantify the lnc-DC levels.

Findings revealed a significant increase in the lnc-DC levels on day 28 and the final day after transplantation in patients with aGVHD compared to non-GVHD patients (CI = 95%, P < 0.03 on day 28 and P < 0.01 on the final day). Furthermore, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed an acceptable total area under the curve for the lnc-DC gene expression data, suggesting a fair diagnostic value for lnc-DC.

Taken together, data of the present study supported a strong correlation between lncRNA-DC expression and aGVHD occurrence. As a result, lnc-DC may be considered as a new molecular marker for the aGVHD prognosis.