In some cases, however, those donor immune cells (the graft) start to see the patients own body (the host) as unfamiliar and foreign. As an outcome, the donor cells may attack the patients own organs and tissues, triggering Graft versus Host Disease..
GVHD develops in as much as half of clients who receive stem cell transplants from a donors blood or bone marrow. It can impact numerous parts of the body and can range from moderate or mild to more severe and even deadly.
The Challenge of Treating GVHD.
The way to deal with and avoid GVHD is by using strong medications to suppress the immune system which can cause clients to get infections which can also be lethal. For that reason, while bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants from a donor are lifesaving for lots of patients with numerous serious illnesses, the development of GVHD can trigger injury or perhaps death and the treatments offered for GVHD are dangerous..
Previous research showed that the bacteria that normally live in the intestines and their products can affect whether or not GVHD happens after a transplant..
Potential Breakthrough with Potato Starch.
Scientists have actually discovered that a food supplement made from potato starch, when provided to ten clients who received stem cell transplants from a donor, changed the items of digestive tract germs in a manner that could possibly avoid GVHD from occurring..
” GVHD is a significant constraint to the lifesaving capability of blood or marrow stem cell transplants. It is exciting to believe of the prospect of potentially finding a basic, low-priced, and safe technique to reducing this harmful problem for clients who require a stem cell transplant, however researching this approach in more clients is still needed to verify,” said Mary Riwes, D.O., assistant professor of internal medicine and medical director of the inpatient adult stem cell transplant system of the Medical Directors Partnering to Lead Along with Nurse Managers program..
Private investigators are presently enrolling more clients for a second stage of this research study to figure out whether taking potato starch will undoubtedly result in less GVHD after stem cell transplant. Sixty patients undergoing a blood or bone marrow stem cell transplant from a donor who are 10 years or older will be randomized to take potato starch or placebo starch in addition to taking all the typical medications for avoiding GVHD with 80% getting potato starch and 20% placebo starch. This phase II medical trial will assist researchers learn whether or not taking potato starch is an efficient intervention for avoiding GVHD..
Recommendation: “Feasibility of a dietary intervention to modify gut microbial metabolic process in patients with hematopoietic stem cell transplant” by Mary M. Riwes, Jonathan L. Golob, John Magenau, Mengrou Shan, Gregory Dick, Thomas Braun, Thomas M. Schmidt, Attaphol Pawarode, Sarah Anand, Monalisa Ghosh, John Maciejewski, Darren King, Sung Choi, Gregory Yanik, Marcus Geer, Ethan Hillman, Costas A. Lyssiotis, Muneesh Tewari and Pavan Reddy, 19 October 2023, Nature Medicine.DOI: 10.1038/ s41591-023-02587-y.
More info about this Phase II trial can be found on Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02763033.
Funding/disclosures: Thanks to the volunteers who took part in the research study and the medical and research personnel of the University of Michigan Bone Marrow Transplant program. This work was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (grant no. P01 HL149633, P.R., M.T., M.M.R.) which facilitated all bio sample analyses. The funder had no function in the style and analysis of the study. Resistant starch was purchased using institutional startup funds (M.M.R).
Funding/disclosures: Thanks to the volunteers who got involved in the research study and the medical and research study staff of the University of Michigan Bone Marrow Transplant program. This work was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (grant no. P01 HL149633, P.R., M.T., M.M.R.) which assisted in all bio sample analyses. The funder had no function in the design and analysis of the study. Resistant starch was acquired utilizing institutional start-up funds (M.M.R).
University of Michigan researchers are studying potato starch as a possible solution to prevent Graft versus Host Disease in stem cell transplant clients, with a phase II medical trial presently in progress.
Research indicates the prospective to prevent the event of Graft versus Host Disease
Researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center have recognized an appealing method to decrease a regular and major threat connected with stem cell transplants from donor blood or bone marrow.
Approximately 18,000 individuals per year in the United States are detected with dangerous diseases, consisting of blood cancers where a blood or bone marrow stem cell transplant from a donor is their finest treatment alternative. Each year, roughly 9,000 of these transplants are performed in the U.S.
Understanding Graft versus Host Disease.
When patients receive a stem cell transplant, they get a brand-new body immune system from the donor whose task is to attack cells that dont belong there consisting of cancer cells..
