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The diversity of gut microbiota in patients receiving allogeneic stem cell transplants (allo-SCTs) may be an important predictor of their survival, according to a study published in Blood.
Previous studies have suggested the intensive treatment given to allo-SCT recipients can destroy a significant portion of their gut microbiota and reduce its overall diversity.
And disturbances of the gut microbiota have been associated with complications such as bloodstream infections and graft-vs-host disease.
“While the link between gut microbiota and complications in allogeneic SCT has been previously established, until this point, it has remained unclear whether the gut bacteria of transplant recipients could predict their survival,” said study author Ying Taur, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
“This study sought to further explore the potential connection between transplantation, gut bacteria, and overall survival.”
To that end, the researchers collected fecal specimens from 80 patients undergoing allo-SCT and sequenced each sample’s bacterial DNA. Specimens were collected within 7 days of engraftment, the point at which the researchers speculated that microbiota diversity would be greatest following pre-transplant conditioning.
The team compared patient outcomes based on diversity of microbiota in their specimens, grouping subjects into high-, intermediate-, and low-microbiota-diversity categories.
At engraftment, 34 patients (42.5%) had low diversity, 20 (25%) had intermediate diversity, and 26 (32.5%) had high diversity. The analysis continued for up to 3 years or until death or last follow-up.
Following their analyses, the researchers found a strong connection between post-transplant gut microbiota diversity and outcomes, observing overall survival rates of 36%, 60%, and 67% among the low-, intermediate-, and high-diversity groups, respectively.
Furthermore, diversity was particularly associated with transplant-related outcomes. Patients with low microbiota diversity were approximately 5 times more likely to die of transplant-related causes within the follow-up period than those with more diverse gut bacteria.
“These results further underscore the significance of the gut microbiota in allogeneic stem cell transplant,” Dr Taur said. “A major question is whether we can improve outcomes by preserving diversity within the gut microbiota.”
“One possible strategy is to find ways to perform transplants in a manner that minimizes damage to the gut microbiota. Another approach would be to replenish the gut with beneficial microbes that are lost after this procedure is performed. We hope that this study will inspire additional research that will further examine the role and importance of the gut microbiota to stem cell transplant outcome.” 
The diversity of gut microbiota in patients receiving allogeneic stem cell transplants (allo-SCTs) may be an important predictor of their survival, according to a study published in Blood.
Previous studies have suggested the intensive treatment given to allo-SCT recipients can destroy a significant portion of their gut microbiota and reduce its overall diversity.
And disturbances of the gut microbiota have been associated with complications such as bloodstream infections and graft-vs-host disease.
“While the link between gut microbiota and complications in allogeneic SCT has been previously established, until this point, it has remained unclear whether the gut bacteria of transplant recipients could predict their survival,” said study author Ying Taur, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
“This study sought to further explore the potential connection between transplantation, gut bacteria, and overall survival.”
To that end, the researchers collected fecal specimens from 80 patients undergoing allo-SCT and sequenced each sample’s bacterial DNA. Specimens were collected within 7 days of engraftment, the point at which the researchers speculated that microbiota diversity would be greatest following pre-transplant conditioning.
The team compared patient outcomes based on diversity of microbiota in their specimens, grouping subjects into high-, intermediate-, and low-microbiota-diversity categories.
At engraftment, 34 patients (42.5%) had low diversity, 20 (25%) had intermediate diversity, and 26 (32.5%) had high diversity. The analysis continued for up to 3 years or until death or last follow-up.
Following their analyses, the researchers found a strong connection between post-transplant gut microbiota diversity and outcomes, observing overall survival rates of 36%, 60%, and 67% among the low-, intermediate-, and high-diversity groups, respectively.
Furthermore, diversity was particularly associated with transplant-related outcomes. Patients with low microbiota diversity were approximately 5 times more likely to die of transplant-related causes within the follow-up period than those with more diverse gut bacteria.
“These results further underscore the significance of the gut microbiota in allogeneic stem cell transplant,” Dr Taur said. “A major question is whether we can improve outcomes by preserving diversity within the gut microbiota.”
“One possible strategy is to find ways to perform transplants in a manner that minimizes damage to the gut microbiota. Another approach would be to replenish the gut with beneficial microbes that are lost after this procedure is performed. We hope that this study will inspire additional research that will further examine the role and importance of the gut microbiota to stem cell transplant outcome.”
The diversity of gut microbiota in patients receiving allogeneic stem cell transplants (allo-SCTs) may be an important predictor of their survival, according to a study published in Blood.
Previous studies have suggested the intensive treatment given to allo-SCT recipients can destroy a significant portion of their gut microbiota and reduce its overall diversity.
And disturbances of the gut microbiota have been associated with complications such as bloodstream infections and graft-vs-host disease.
“While the link between gut microbiota and complications in allogeneic SCT has been previously established, until this point, it has remained unclear whether the gut bacteria of transplant recipients could predict their survival,” said study author Ying Taur, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
“This study sought to further explore the potential connection between transplantation, gut bacteria, and overall survival.”
To that end, the researchers collected fecal specimens from 80 patients undergoing allo-SCT and sequenced each sample’s bacterial DNA. Specimens were collected within 7 days of engraftment, the point at which the researchers speculated that microbiota diversity would be greatest following pre-transplant conditioning.
The team compared patient outcomes based on diversity of microbiota in their specimens, grouping subjects into high-, intermediate-, and low-microbiota-diversity categories.
At engraftment, 34 patients (42.5%) had low diversity, 20 (25%) had intermediate diversity, and 26 (32.5%) had high diversity. The analysis continued for up to 3 years or until death or last follow-up.
Following their analyses, the researchers found a strong connection between post-transplant gut microbiota diversity and outcomes, observing overall survival rates of 36%, 60%, and 67% among the low-, intermediate-, and high-diversity groups, respectively.
Furthermore, diversity was particularly associated with transplant-related outcomes. Patients with low microbiota diversity were approximately 5 times more likely to die of transplant-related causes within the follow-up period than those with more diverse gut bacteria.
“These results further underscore the significance of the gut microbiota in allogeneic stem cell transplant,” Dr Taur said. “A major question is whether we can improve outcomes by preserving diversity within the gut microbiota.”
“One possible strategy is to find ways to perform transplants in a manner that minimizes damage to the gut microbiota. Another approach would be to replenish the gut with beneficial microbes that are lost after this procedure is performed. We hope that this study will inspire additional research that will further examine the role and importance of the gut microbiota to stem cell transplant outcome.”