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Graft versus host disease (GVHD) and graft rejection are both potential complications of bone marrow transplants, with GVHD being the more serious of the two. The primary similarity between the two is that they both involve an immune system response to foreign material in the recipient’s body. Specifically, a bone marrow transplant involves transferring healthy stem cells from a donor into a person receiving treatment for leukemia or other blood cancer. These donor stem cells may not be compatible with the recipient’s immune system and can cause it to become overactive, leading to either GVHD or graft rejection.

Graft rejection occurs when the recipient’s immune system recognizes donor stem cells as foreign material and mounts an attack against them. This process is known as alloimmunity because it involves recognition of “allogeneic” tissue, meaning tissue from another individual or species (Kanakry & Olsson 2012). The recipient’s white blood cells recognize antigens on donor cell proteins as foreign and initiate an inflammatory response which leads to destruction of these vital cells. In some cases this can result in severe symptoms like fever, chills, nausea and vomiting (Hoskins 2021).

On the other hand, GVHD is caused by donor T-cells attacking normal healthy tissues in the recipient body due to their recognition as foreign. This is called autoreactivity because it involves attack against self-components rather than external ones (Ahmad et al 2019). It typically begins within 3 months after transplantation but can occur up to one year afterwards; early signs include skin rashes or sores inside mouth followed by digestive issues such diarrhea/vomiting , abdominal pain , jaundice etc . Severity varies depending upon personage gender level of conditioning prior transplantation type of donor source used during transplantation etc . Early identification prompt treatment key preventing life threatening complications associated with GVHD .

In summary, although there are differences between graft rejection and GVHD in terms of how they manifest themselves clinically, both involve an immune system response towards donor material which must be managed appropriately for successful recovery post-transplantation. To prevent medical complications following bone marrow transplants it is important for patients like your adult patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia to have complete understanding about these processes so that he/she can take necessary precautions ahead of time.