L'Azacytidine comme traitement de la maladie du greffon contre l'hôte de type chronique sclérodermique expérimentale.

Introduction: Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) has remained a major complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for the last decades. Following unmanipulated peripheral-blood stem cell transplantation, 60% of the patients experience chronic GVHD while approximately 15% of them develop a sclerodermic form of chronic GVHD characterized by multiple organ fibrosis and loss of skin elasticity. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a pivotal protective role in the pathogenesis of chronic GVHD by inhibiting alloreactive conventional T cells (Tconvs). Several studies have shown that hypomethylating agents such as azacytidine (Aza) can demethylate the master transcription factor of Treg (Forkhead box protein 3 factor, FoxP3), thus promoting Treg differentiation from Tconvs. This work investigates the impact of Aza in a classical murine model of sclerodermic chronic GVHD (B10.D2  BALB/cJ).

Methods: In vitro analyses have been performed to determine the impact of Aza on collagen production. NIH-3T3 fibroblastic cells were plated and stimulated with 50 ng of PDGF or 10 ng of TGF-beta. Cells were then cultured with various concentrations of Aza for 48 hours. After culture, cells were stained with Sirius Red before quantification of collagen amount by absorbance at 490 nm. For in vivo experiments, lethally irradiated (7 Gy) BALB/cJ recipient mice were injected with 107 bone marrow cells + 7.107splenocytes from B10.D2 donor mice to induce scl-cGVHD. Recipients were injected with either 0,5 or 2 mg/kg of Aza every 48 hours from day 10 to 30 following transplantation. GVHD was scored using a five criteria scale (weight loss, activity, fibrosis, hair loss and mice posture; 0-1-2 points/criteria). Mice were sacrificed at a score of 8/10 (or > 20% weight loss) or at day 52 after transplantation (end of experiment).

Results: Concerning in vitro analyses, results suggest a decreased production of collagen at higher concentration of Aza with both stimulations (seen by a gradual diminution of absorbance). For in vivo experiments, mice treated with Aza 0.5 mg/kg (n = 14) or 2 mg/kg (n = 25) had significant lower clinical scores of GVHD compared to control ones (n = 23) after treatment. FACS analysis showed a higher proportion of Treg among CD4+ T cells in the blood of Aza 2 mg/kg mice than in control mice at day 35 following transplantation (P = 0.047), as well as a higher percentage of Tregs expressing the KI67 proliferative marker on the same time point (P = 0.0005). Finally, analyses of the cellular blood components with Cell-dyn demonstrated that Aza 2 mg/kg treated mice were significantly lymphopenic as compared to control mice at day 35 after transplantation (P = 0.05).

Conclusion : Aza prevented sclerodermic GVHD in this classical murine model of chronic GVHD.