In: Anatomy and Physiology
Why would someones symptoms due to a autoimmune disease lessen while being 'conditioned' for a bone marrow transplant? Could you break it down as much as possible, I am in basic immunology. Thank you!
Autoimmue disease results due to an abnormal immune response in a person to their normal body cells. Normally, the immune system destroys and inactivates the foreign and harmful agents entering the body but in autoimmue diseases, the immune system starts attacking the normal body cells and tissues of an individual. Examples:- celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease.
Stem cell transplantation is a process in the management of diseases like leukemia. In this, stem cells from the bone marrow of a healthy donor is extracted and transplanted into the recipient's body where the healthy stem cells produce normal blood cells.
Before receiving bone marrow transplant, the recipient body is "conditioned" by adminstration of high dose chemotherapy, radiotherapy or monoclonal antibodies or a combination of these to destroy the diseased bone marrow cells and create space for healthy stem cells from the donor to grow. As the diseased bone marrow is destroyed and marrow cells produce white blood cells of immune system, the "conditioning" also prevents the recipient's body from rejecting the donor's bone marrow stem cells.
As during "conditioning" before stem cell transplantation, the diseased bone marrow is destroyed in the donor's body and since the bone marrow is the site of leucocytes (white blood cells) production which provides immunity, the symptoms due to autoimmue disease lessens.