Protection for the gut barrier: New approach may prevent graft-versus-host disease
In order to enable foreign stem cells to multiply in the body and produce healthy blood cells, doctors first need to make room for them. This is achieved by destroying existing cells in the bone marrow using drugs or radiation. One of the risks resulting from this pre-treatment is GVHD, which occurs in about half of all treatments. In simple terms, during GVHD the transplanted stem cells become T lymphocytes. These immune cells, which are supposed to fight intruders such as bacteria, take a wrong turn and start attacking the recipient's already weakened body. In a paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine , an international team headed by TUM adjunct teaching professor Dr. Hendrik Poeck and Dr. Tobias Haas, heads of a research group at the third medical clinic of TUM's Klinikum rechts der Isar, and Professor Marcel van den Brink at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City, describes how this process could be prevented. ...