查看文章

Fetuses with severe combined immunodeficiency may be treated with intrauterine transplantation of fetal hematopoietic stem cells. In previous reports on intrauterine transplantation with T-cell-depleted bone marrow, repeated injections have led to partial immunoreconstitution at birth, with subnormal T-cell counts and a delayed response to mitogens.

A male fetus with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency because of a stop mutation in the gene encoding the common γ chain of cytokine receptors was transplanted in week 14 of gestation with a single injection of 7 × 10⁷ cryopreserved nucleated fetal liver cells (9 × 10⁸ cells per estimated kilogram fetal weight) into the fetal abdomen. At 24 and 33 weeks of gestational age, fetal blood samples were taken to detect evidence of engraftment. Fetal mixed chimerism was determined using polymerase chain reaction amplification of a …