According to a report from ArsTechnica, scientists believe that some people might have medicinal poop. What might sound like a bad punchline to a child’s joke is actually the result of numerous studies on patients with Clostridium difficile infections.
Clostridium difficile is a bacterium that commonly affects the intestines of individuals who have taken antibiotics. Normally, communities of microbes in the gut are enough to suppress Clostridium difficile. However, antibiotics can affect the biological composition of the gut bacteria, opening up susceptibility to infection.
Normally, these infections are treated with even more antibiotics. However, around one in five C. difficile infections are resistant to such treatment. Individuals with this antibiotic-resistant form of C. difficile will often struggle with chronic referring bouts of infection. A recent study suggested that as much as 92% of people experiencing chronic C. difficile infection could be cured with a fecal microbiota transplant.
“Fecal microbiota transplant,” or FMT, is one of the few mostly self-explanatory names in medicine. Essentially, small fecal samples from individuals with particularly robust gut microbiomes are introduced to the digestive tract of patients with C. difficile infection.
It’s a poop transplant.
“Super-Donors”
While FMT has proven effective treating recurring C. difficile infections, similar successes in the treatment of other microbial imbalances have proven to be elusive. That includes conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, or allergic colitis. Scientists suspect that FMT therapy could potentially benefit these patients, but the few studies conducted on the subject have proven been inconclusive.
However, what researchers have noticed is the presence of fecal “super-donors.” Although FMT cure rates for conditions like ulcerative colitis or irritable bowel disease hover around a lowly 25%, researchers observed that patients who received transplants from certain donors enjoyed much better outcomes and odds of success.
These “super poopers“ are not easy to find, however. Scientists attempting to identify such individuals through gut biome analysis alone have failed to do so reliably. The reason why isn’t clear, but some believe the genetic make up of the recipient might have some affect. As more FMT data is collected, scientists hope to improve their understanding of these “super-donors,“ and what makes their poop so effective at treating certain individuals. In the future, such data would be invaluable for determining the maximum potential of FMT.
Do you think the “grossness” of describing FMT could prevent some people from accepting it as a viable form of treatment? Share your thoughts with Patient Worthy!
