Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a specific gut bacterium involved in the progression of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after antibiotic treatment of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and discovered that nutritional supplementation can prevent antibiotic-induced GVHD in preclinical models, according to a study published today in Cell.

Researchers led by Eiko Hayase, M.D., Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, and corresponding author Robert Jenq, M.D., associate professor of Genomic Medicine, discovered that certain antibiotics alter the sugar composition of the gut, forcing a normally beneficial species of bacteria to consume mucin in the intestinal lining, which can lead to complications such as GVHD.

"Knowing that this family of bacteria prefers certain types of sugars, we hypothesized that adding a sugar would, in a way, distract it from attacking the mucin in the gut and reduce these effects, which was the case," Hayase said. "Through nutritional changes in these models, we learned we can change the microbiome function and help avoid adverse events."

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