After bone marrow grafting, severe unexplained thrombocytopenia and granulocytopenia
may complicate the post-graft recovery of the patient. The present study has
shown the presence of antibodies to platelets and granulocytes of donor origin in recipients
of both allogeneic and autologous bone marrow grafts. In the case of autografts, such antibodies
are by definition autoantibodies, and similar antibodies after allografting may also
have an autoimmune origin. It is likely that this is the result of transient immune system
imbalance, common to both alio- and autografts, in the early post-graft period. The extent to
which these antibodies affect the peripheral counts probably depends on the ability of the
engrafted marrow to compensate for the rate of antibody-mediated cell destruction.
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