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Gut microbiome in children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Paweł Józefczuk1, Jarosław Biliński2, Aleksandra Minkowska1
1Department of Oncology, Pediatric Hematology, Clinical Transplantology and Pediatrics, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.
Insights
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) impacts the microbiome in children. Understanding these changes is key for developing new microbiota-targeted therapies to improve transplant outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Hematology
- Microbiome Research
- Transplantation Science
Background:
- Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a vital treatment for pediatric cancers and genetic disorders.
- The peri-transplant period is critical, with growing interest in the microbiome's influence.
- Diverse pediatric conditions necessitate HSCT, highlighting the need to understand patient-specific factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the role of the microbiome in pediatric HSCT.
- To discuss microbiome composition changes during HSCT.
- To explore potential microbiota-oriented interventions for pediatric HSCT.
Main Methods:
- Literature review focusing on pediatric HSCT and microbiome data.
- Inclusion of adult and animal study data for translational insights.
- Analysis of microbiome dynamics and intervention strategies.
Main Results:
- The microbiome significantly changes during HSCT in pediatric patients.
- Microbiota composition is linked to transplant success and complications.
- Early-life microbiome alterations can impact long-term health post-transplant.
Conclusions:
- The pediatric microbiome plays a crucial role in HSCT outcomes.
- Targeting the microbiome offers promising avenues for novel therapeutic strategies.
- Further research, including translational studies, is needed to optimize microbiota interventions in pediatric HSCT.
Abstract:
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is used in children as a treatment for various cancers, e.g. acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), or other diseases, e.g. severe congenital immunodeficiency, metabolic disorders, hence the patient population is quite diverse. There is an increasing interest on the role of the microbiome in peri-transplant period. In this review, concepts of HSCT with the focus on the importance of microbiome composition, its changes during treatment and possible microbiota oriented interventions will be discussed. This paper analyzes data in pediatric population, but in view of interesting results and absence of analogous data for pediatric patients, it also looks at studies performed on adult population and pre-clinical trials on animals discussing possible translation to children.
