The cell composition of infused donor lymphocyte has different impact in different types of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) is often used to enhance the graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). In this study, we first evaluated the impact of the cell composition of a modified DLI (mDLI) on the prognoses of patients. A total of 194 patients undergoing allo-HSCT were enrolled and received mDLI for various clinical reasons. The infused cellular components of the mDLI were examined by flow cytometry. The results showed that infusion with a lower dose of CD14(+) cells (<0.33 × 10(8) /kg) was an independent risk factor for the occurrence of II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) (HR = 0.104, p = 0.032) in human leukoctye antigen-identical transplant patients. In addition, a dose of CD14(+) cells greater than the 50th percentile was associated with a lower incidence of hematological relapse and longer disease-free survival (DFS) after the mDLI (relapse: HR = 0.193, p = 0.007; DFS: HR = 0.259, p = 0.016). However, we also found that a greater number of CD14(+) cells were an independent risk factor for II-IV aGVHD (HR = 1.758, p = 0.034) in haploidentical allo-HSCT. In conclusion, our data were the first to demonstrate that the cell composition of a 56 mDLI played a distinct role in different types of allo-HSCT. This finding provided a novel approach for the development of cellular therapies by manipulating the components of infused cells.