Patients undergoing transplantation of the bone marrow and experiencing development of rashes on a regular basis can benefit from a simple blood test that can solve a treatment-based issue presently faced by doctors.

James Ferrara, M.D., Ruth Heyn Endowed Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases and director of the bone marrow transplant program at U-M and senior author of this study, remarked that this blood test can assist doctors in making informed decisions.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Rashes are very common in patients after bone marrow transplants. They may signal the onset of acute GVHD. But until now, a skin biopsy was the only reliable way for doctors to determine whether the rash is caused by antibiotics commonly used to treat bone marrow transplant patients, or is instead GVHD of the skin, where the disease appears in about half of cases.

Because a firm diagnosis is not easy and the threat of GVHD is grave, many doctors who suspect a rash is due to GVHD prescribe systemic high-dose steroids to suppress GVHD, which further weaken a patient’s already compromised immune system.

The U-M scientists identified a key biomarker or signature protein of GVHD of the skin called elafin. Elafin levels can be measured in a blood test to identify which bone marrow transplant patients with skin rashes actually have GVHD.

It was noted by the involved researchers that a biomarker was identified and has the potential of making things easier for doctors when it comes to determining which all of their patients are likely to run a high risk of death due to graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD.