Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Post Transplant Complications

N-acetylcysteine for hepatic veno-occlusive disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Abstract

Three patients developed veno-occlusive disease of the liver (VOD) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. On the day after diagnosis, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) was given, initially in loading doses and thereafter 50–150 mg/kg/day for 12 to 31 days. The maximum bilirubin levels were 137, 58 and 138 mmol/l in the three patients, respectively. After the introduction of NAC, bilirubin, aspertate aminotransferase, sIL-2 receptor and IL-8 decreased. All three patients achieved normal bilirubin levels and prothrombin times. To conclude, NAC may be useful for treatment of VOD. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2000) 25, 993–996.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Shulman H, Hinterberger W . Hepatic veno-occlusive disease – liver toxicity syndrome after bone marrow transplantation Bone Marrow Transplant 1992 10: 197–214

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Jones RJ, Lee KS, Beschorner WE et al. Veno-occlusive disease of the liver following bone marrow transplantation Transplantation 1987 44: 778–783

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Holler E, Kolb H, Moller A et al. Increased serum levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha precede major complications of bone marrow transplantation Blood 1990 75: 1011–1016

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Remberger M, Ringdén O . Increased levels of soluble IL-2 receptor in veno-occlusive disease of the liver after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation Transplantation 1995 60: 1293–1299

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Remberger M, Ringdén O . Serum levels of cytokines after bone marrow transplantation: increased IL-8 levels during severe veno-occlusive disease of the liver Eur J Haematol 1997 59: 254–262

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Harrison PM, Keays R, Bray GP et al. Improved outcome of paracetamol-induced fulminant hepatic failure by late administration of acetylcysteine Lancet 1990 335: 1572–1573

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Colombo AA, Ranheim EA, Fong T, Kipps TJ . CD40 signaling in B cells involves reactive oxygen intermediates and induces activation of NF-kB Blood 1994 84: (Suppl. 1) 511 (Abstr. 2029)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Ringdén O, Remberger M, Persson U et al. Similar incidence of graft-versus-host disease using HLA-A, -B and -DR identical unrelated bone marrow donors as with HLA-identical siblings Bone Marrow Transplant 1995 15: 619–625

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Ringdén O, Wennberg L, Ericzon B-G et al. Alteplase for hepatic veno-occlusive disease after bone marrow transplantation Lancet 1992 340: 546–547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Hägglund H, Ringdén O, Ericzon BG et al. Treatment of hepatic veno-occlusive disease with recombinant human tissue plasminogen activator or orthotopic liver transplantation after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation Transplantation 1996 62: 1076–1080

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Bonanomi L, Gazzaniga A . Toxicological, pharmacokinetic and metabolic studies on acetylcysteine Eur J Respir Dis 1980 111: 45–51

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sekharam M, Trotti A, Cunnick JM, Wu J . Suppression of fibroblast cell cycle phase by N-acetylcysteine Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 1998 149: 210–216

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hägglund H, Remberger M, Klaesson S et al. Norethisterone treatment, a major risk-factor for veno-occlusive disease of the liver after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation Blood 1998 92: 4568–4572

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the staff at the Centre for Allogeneic Stem cell Transplantation for expert patient care. We thank Inger Hammarberg for excellent typing of the manuscript. We thank Zoe and Francis Walsh for scrutinizing the English language. This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Cancer Society (0070-B97-11XBC), the Children’s Cancer Foundation (1997/073), the Swedish Medical Research Council (K98-06X-05971-18B), the FRF Foundation, the Tobias Foundation and the Ellen Bachrach Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ringdén, O., Remberger, M., Lehmann, S. et al. N-acetylcysteine for hepatic veno-occlusive disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 25, 993–996 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1702387

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1702387

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links