Delhi Hospital

CD45RA Depletion is a specialised technique used in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and cell therapy. CD45RA is a marker found on naïve T cells, which have not yet encountered antigens. Depleting these cells from donor grafts helps to reduce the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a common complication where the donor's immune cells attack the recipient's tissues. This technique is beneficial for patients with high-risk leukaemia, aplastic anaemia, and inherited metabolic disorders. In the context of CAR-T cell therapy, CD45RA depletion can be employed to enhance the safety and efficacy of the treatment by minimising the risk of GVHD. It is also applied in virus-specific T-cell therapies to selectively expand memory T cells that can combat infections post-transplantation. A technical complex procedure, it requires sophisticated equipment and expertise, making it available only in specialized centers

Whether you are a donor or need an allogeneic transplant, blood stem cells can be collected from your bloodstream or bone marrow. While the largest concentration of stem cells is in the bone marrow, most transplants these days use stem cells collected from the bloodstream. To accomplish this, stem cells are mobilised out of the bone marrow and into the bloodstream using injections of a drug over a 4- to 5-day period when they are collected using a process called peripheral blood stem cell collection, apheresis or harvest. Peripheral blood stem cell collection is a painless, out-patient process similar to a blood donation, lasting 3-4 hours. It can take a few days to collect enough stem cells for a transplant. In case, the process lasts longer than a day, the donor can return home after the collection. Side effects can include feeling faint or cramps. Collecting stem cells from the bone marrow is an outpatient, surgical procedure. Under anaesthesia, a needle is inserted into the donor’s rear pelvic bone which has a large quantity of bone marrow. The bone marrow is extracted with a syringe. There are no surgical incisions involved. A sterile bandage is applied to the site after the collection ends. After the procedure, you may feel some discomfort in the hip and lower back for a few days restricting strenuous activities. A painkiller is given to ease discomfort.

TCR Alpha-Beta Depletion is an advanced technique used in haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) to enhance the safety and efficacy of the procedure. T-cell receptors (TCRs) are proteins found on the surface of T cells, and the alpha-beta variant is the most common type. By selectively depleting T cells that express the alpha-beta TCR, this method aims to reduce the incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) while maintaining effective anti-infection and anti-tumour response responses. This technique enables the use of haploidentical, or half-match donors, increasing the pool of potential donors and making transplants more accessible.