Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease (aGvHD) of the gut is still a severe and life-threatening complication after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT). The loss of intestinal bacterial diversity plays an essential role in the pathophysiology of aGvHD and impacts the outcome after ASCT. Thus, the early identification of changes of the bacterial composition and consecutively of patients with an increased risk for GvHD-related mortality is of major importance. We were already able to identify bacterial biomarkers significantly correlating with the outcome after ASCT. Now we are aiming to validate their predictive value, learn more about the underlying pathophysiology and to identify new blood biomarkers indicating bacterial translocation due to a disruption of the intestinal barrier function.

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