Treatment of life-threatening autoimmune diseases with myeloablative doses of immunosuppressive agents: experimental background and rationale for ABMT.

We describe a case of autoimmune-mediated mixed cryoglobulinemia with vasculitis and nephritis that was successfully treated with acute myeloablative immunosuppressive treatment. The case suggests that elimination of autoreactive lymphocytes followed by de novo regeneration of lymphocytes from autologous stem cells that re-acquire unresponsiveness towards self may be successfully accomplished in life-threatening autoimmune diseases. The combination of acute myeloablative immunosuppression followed by syngeneic stem cell transplantation may be an effective treatment for severe autoimmune diseases.