IL17A and inflammatory bowel disease: Despite exerting crucial barrier-protective functions under homeostatic conditions, interleukin-17a (IL-17a) producing T helper (Th17) cells are the most-abundant subpopulation within intestinal inflammatory lesions found in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) and acute manifestation of gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) (1, 2).