Pre-and Post-Transplant Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase Levels as a Predictive Marker for Patient Survival and Engraftment in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients

The discovery of biomarkers to predict the development of complications associated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) offers a potential avenue for the early identification and treatment of these life-threatening consequences. Serum lactate dehydrogenase (sLDH) has been identified as a potential biomarker for determining the outcome of allogenic HSCT (allo-HSCT).

A retrospective study was performed using data collected from 204 allo-HSCT recipient patients to examine the predictive value of sLDH levels pre- and post-allo-HSCT on patient survival, graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) incidence, and time to platelet/white blood cells (WBC) engraftment.

Our findings show that neither pre- (p= 0.61) nor post-transplantation (p= 0.55) sLDH levels were associated with GVHD incidence. However, elevated sLDH levels pre- and post-transplantation (≥ 386 and ≥ 409 IU/mL, respectively) were found to be adverse risk factors for patient survival (p= 0.16, p= 0.20, respectively). Furthermore, a median sLDH level≥ 400 IU/mL from day +5 to day +15 post-transplantation had a significant positive association with enhanced time to platelet and white blood cell (WBC) engraftment, compared to patients with sLDH levels < 400 IU/mL (p< 0.001).

Our data suggests that high sLDH levels pre- and post-allo-HSCT could be considered a predictor of poor patient survival. Furthermore, high levels of sLDH days 5-15 post-allo-HSCT could be associated with improved time to platelet and WBC engraftment; however, this appears to come at the cost of increased mortality risk.