| Theme |
Impacts of intestinal microbiota |
| Title |
Fecal microbiota transplantation |
| Author |
Akira Andoh |
Department of Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science |
| Author |
Atsushi Nishida |
Department of Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science |
| Author |
Ryo Inoue |
Laboratory of Animal Science, Department of Agriculture and Life Science, Kyoto Prefectural University |
| [ Summary ] |
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is the therapeutic process of stool transfer from a healthy donor to a person with a certain disorder in order to correct the altered gut microbial community and restore microbial homeostasis. The efficacy of FMT in treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection has been established with cure rates as high as 90 % in clinical trials. However, the efficacy of FMT in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is still controversial. Although the safety of FMT for IBD has been confirmed, accumulating data have not yet confirmed the role of FMT in the management of patients with IBD. There remain many unresolved questions such as the administration route, approach to donor selection, frequency of treatment, as well as reasons for differences in microbial variations between responders and non-responders. These questions should be resolved to improve the efficacy of this unique treatment, targeting the gut microbiota for IBD treatment. |