Immunological reconstitution in long-term survivors of thalassemia major patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Abstract

We studied the immune function of 33 long-term survivors of thalassemia after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Lymphocyte subsets, lymphoproliferative response and immunoglobulin were normal but the level of natural killer cells was low. Five and seven patients had suboptimal antibody response at 4 week after pneumococcal and hepatitis B vaccine, respectively, but this response returned to normal by 6 months.