OBJECTIVE The pathogenesis, mechanism, manifestation and diagnosis of graft-versus-host disease(GVHD) are reviewed in this article. METHODS The relevant articles in recent public magazines were reviewed and summarized. RESULTS It was indicated that GVHD occurred in the conditioned recipients in animal experiments and clinical transplantations. Humoral and cellular factors were involved in GVHD, which could be diagnosed and classified according to their characteristics. CONCLUSION As a kind of interactions between the host and donor, GVHD are severely harmful to the host. It may also occur in xenotransplantation, where GVHD can be utilized in the studies on transplant immunology, oncology etc. Xenogeneic GVHD is receiving more and more attentions.