Summary: The overall health of the gut microbiome and its organisms can influence the prevalence and severity of graftversushost disease. This presentation reviews the causes and mechanisms of how organisms in the gut can affect GVHD and reviews potential strategies to minimize this problem.

Presenter: Robert Jenq MD, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Many thanks to Incyte and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals whose support helped make this Survivorship Symposium possible.

To read the transcript, go to:
https://bmtinfonet.org/video/gutbiom...

Highlights:

Having a stem cell transplant can temporarily reduce microbiome diversity.
Patients with more diverse microbiome have a decreased risk of death due to GVHD
Avoiding antibiotics that reduce diversity in the gut microbiome and supporting the gut biome with
a wellbalanced diet can help prevent a sequence of events that can worsen GVHD.

May 2024, Part of the Virtual Celebrating a Second Chance at Life Survivorship Symposium 2024

Presentation is 40 minutes long with 19 minutes of Q & A

Key Points:

(08:10): Patients with more diverse microbiomes have improved overall survival.

(08:47): This improved survival probably reflects differences in GVHD related mortality.

(09:15): Certain antibiotics that are used in transplant patients can decrease the diversity of the microbiome.

(11:05): In one study, patients receiving a strong antibiotic called meropenem developed GVHD at much higher rates than those that did not receive that medication.

(14:57): A bacteria called bacteroides thetaiotaomicron can thin mucus in the intestinal layers and lead to more severe GVHD.

(17:58): One study found that patients with more bacteroides in their stool responded better to steroid treatment for GHVD than those who had less bacteriodies.

(20:41): A subtype of bacteria called B. ovatus was found to prevent thinning of mucus in the gut.

(25:08): In human patients receiving a stem cell transplant, chemotherapy can suppress appetite and impair nutrition which also impairs the gut bacteria.

(28:13): Probiotics are not very beneficial in restoring the bacteria in microbiome needed to reduce the risk of severe GVHD.

(29:45): Fecal transplantation via capsules has more promise for restoring or maintaining a healthy gut biome.

Meet the speaker:
https://faculty.mdanderson.org/profil...

VISIT US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

  / bmtinfonet  
  / bonemarrowstemcelltransplantclub  
  / bmtinfonet  
https://x.com/BMTInfoNet
  / bmtinfonet